Unreal
by AzureF
Summary: What happens when the unexpected becomes the expected, when the unreal becomes real? Well, one author is about to find out... when she gets dumped into a universe not her own! COMPLETE
1. That Wasn't Good

_Well, well, well... what have we here? Could it be..!_

_Yup, I've finally snapped. Great, isn't it? I finally decided to up and write one horrifying little blurb that'll be quite entertaining for some, strange for others, and just downright embarrassing for me.  
'Cause that's what you get when you write a self-insertion fic._

_Yes, I have gone mad. Fear me.  
This is what would happen, based on as much of what I know about what I would do realistically and somewhat unrealistically in certain situations, if I was suddenly and quiet literally dumped in the Aliens/Predator universe. First chapter is just an introduction to the real me, yeah, most of this is true, people! (on the first chapter) This is what I actually look like right about now with the hair and all that XD._

_Have fun, and review if you can. __

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_Oh joy_, I thought as I slumped back in my chair, my fingers almost unconsciously rising to finger my newly colored hair. I smiled slightly, mom had always been so vengefully opposed to me coloring it purple, but just last week I'd been able to get her to cave, and this new style was the result.

My hair's natural color was a golden red, a rare color in my family. But I'd always wanted a wild color; being an artist and all, I guess the urge to be different was hard wired into me. Normally, I'd color it a bright orange –mom approved of orange; she said it matched me perfectly, and I agreed with her- but the store had either not gotten it in or had stopped getting it completely. If that was the case, I'd be pissed…

But this color was good, too. I'd come up with the style I wore it in myself, because I wanted this coloring to really give people something to do a double-take at. Instead of coloring it in purple highlights, like everybody else did, I'd colored it in horizontal stripes, almost like some sort of psychedelic bee. Heh, I'd gotten more people ask me how I'd done that in one day then the entire time I had when I'd colored my entire head an orange bright enough to give off it's own light.

Yeah, I was creative when it came to hair… but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what to write next on this damn story! I sighed, staring at the screen while trying to come up with some situation where my characters would establish their own individual personalities while drawing the plot forward towards the end that I already had planned and written in part. Writers block was so damn frustrating! With a growl; I opened the pack of mints that I always kept nearby –I think I'm addicted to mints, even though they have no caffeine- and popped one into my mouth, sucking on it as I contemplated.

Ugh, nothing. It didn't matter that the story was based on my absolute favorite subject in the movie world, Aliens and Predators -otherwise known as Xenomorph and Yautja-, I was stuck fast. With a mental snort I moved my head to look at the living room around me, taking my eyes off the computer screen for a moment as I searched for a clue to where I would go next. My eyes drifted lazily, languidly, until finally resting on the movie shelves that we had set up nearby.

Automatically, my gaze snapped up to read my favorite title, AVP. I let a ghost of a grin brush my lips while I looked at it; now there was a movie! Too bad I didn't have a DVD player in my room, else I would have been watching it yet again right at the moment. Somehow, it always served to give me inspiration when it seemed as if I would never be able to move forward in my stories, and the characters weren't half bad, either.

It would have been nice if I had the Aliens movies, though. They were the only things I was missing in my collection; I had both Predator movies and AVP already. It was a bit strange to have movies on the species that I didn't root for in the newest one, considering that I was a huge Xenomorph fan. Hmm… but I was looking for them, so it didn't matter.

I stood up from my large and comfortable wooden chair, one that I had found at a secondhand store and which originally came from a nice restaurant, and made my way over, taking the movie out from it's place and staring at the cover art. Again, I was amazed at how incredibly drawn I was to these damn movies, even from a young age. I had never been one of those girls that played with their Barbies and practiced at dress up, like my sister had done; no, I had been the one that had to have every alien action figure, using the creatures to eat all my sister's pansy-ass toys.

I was certainly a different child. Some would say insane like it was a bad thing.

I brought the movie back to my seat, plopping down in it while running my hands over the cover and reading the back for the hundredth time since I had gotten the DVD. Again, I contemplated exactly how awesome it would be for it to be real, to be able to participate in the events as they unfolded and perhaps even change one or two of them.

But… that was why people like me existed. It wasn't possible, so we would sit and write about our wishes and entertain others in the process. It was as close as we could get.

I wished I could get closer. Just to be able to say to myself 'they're real. You were right all along, Jess, they're real'. Hehe, never gonna happen, but a girl can dream, can't she? I mean, hell, dreaming was all I had left when it came down to it.

"Damn reality," I muttered, setting the tape down on the printer in front of me as I resumed staring at the screen. The noises of my mom making dinner drifted to me from the next room, and I grimaced; I wasn't feeling all that hungry right now. Heck, I hadn't been feeling hungry much since I had first begun my diet, almost a year ago. I guess it doesn't happen as much, when your body begins to realize that it doesn't need to eat all the time to stay fit.

"Hey, Jessie?" I groaned as my mom's voice drifted to me from the kitchen. She heard and her voice became slightly sharp, though she was used to this from me, "Oh, come on; you've been on that stupid computer all day. I was going to ask you if you could go out and feed the birds for me after supper…. Oh, and while you're at it, you could take out the trash, too. But first, help me set the table, Dad'll be home soon."

"'Kay," I said, shutting down the writing program and sighing when the absence of a pop-up told me that I had been staring at the screen for a full hour and hadn't changed or written a thing. Damn that writer's block! "Just give me a sec!"

I shut down the computer and walked into the kitchen, mechanically helping mom with everything while listening half-heartedly to her constant chatter. It wasn't as if I didn't love my mom, no, it was just that after a while I got tired of listening.

"Jessie? Jess, come on! I said we needed forks, are you listening?"

"No," I answered truthfully, grabbing the forks and arranging them neatly on the table… well, it was neat for me, meaning that they were pretty much thrown by their plates in the vague hope that whoever sat down would be able to find them. Pouring the drinks was more up my alley, so I went to do that and finally sat down, watching as mom finished preparing the last of the meal. It was the usual; which happened to be something I liked, thank the powers. Macaroni and cheese with hamburger, yum.

Dad came home, and I ate quickly, as I always did, my mind locked onto the computer and if I would ever get anything figured out on the story I was writing. It didn't seem like it, but I could hope. Hoping got me lots of places, if I was lucky. Considering I was lucky a lot, I usually had something come up.

I made as if to sneak out of the kitchen, but as always, mom was quick to catch me.

"Good, you're done," she said, "Now could you go and do as I asked before you get back on that computer… better yet, how about you just leave the computer be for a while and do something constructive?"

"Like what, play video games or watch TV?" I asked sarcastically, giving my mom a sly look to show her that I wasn't trying to be rude. There was a fine line between rude and funny with me, and most people couldn't see it unless they had known me for a long while, like my family and close friends… well, I only had about two friends that could be called anything near close, but that was beside the point.

"Just stay off it for a while, give your fingers and eyes a rest," she replied, using that insane parent logic that always seemed to work, even if it didn't make much sense. I sighed and grunted in answer; I hadn't been feeling all that well lately, and my voice was still a bit hoarse from the cold I'd gotten over. Those damn things clung to me like leeches, making up for the rarity of me ever getting sick.

I donned my coat, a newer thing made of synthetic brown leather and a thick ruff of fluffy material that wasn't quite like fur, but more like the crimped stuff on valentine's teddy bears. I had fallen in love with the thing on sight, which was rare for me, since I tended to get very attached to my coats and my old one had been with me for over two years. But it was far too big for me, now, since I had lost so much weight over the past year, so this new one kept out the cold much better. Plus, it made me look tougher, a feature that I always liked, being a bit of a stickler for the lone, mysterious figures in stories and such.

With a flourishing motion, I pulled my waist long, thick hair out of my coat, smiled as the colored strands flashed in the kitchen light. Man, I loved that! My mom shook her head and smiled as I walked out the door into the biting, freezing cold that I really didn't like all that much since I had almost froze to death –in my opinion- after staying over at a friend's house and sleeping on the concrete floor of the basement with exactly one blanket on exactly one sleeping bag that was far too small.

That hadn't been the most comfortable night of my life.

I forced my way through the thick snow that had fallen through the night, cursing as some of it entered my shoes and melted on my socks. Damn, that was cold! But I continued on to the garage, opening the door and staggering into the darkness. I fumbled for the light switch for a moment before remembering where it was, and with a sigh I lifted my hand to the correct panel and pushing the button.

The lights hummed on around me, and I shifted around for a bit before finally finding the birdseed. There was barely any left in the bottom, basically enough to dust the bottom of the feeder but not to do much else… Well, the birds could suffer for a while until we got more. Still, I made my way outside and filled it with the little bit I had, if only to show my mom that yes, I was indeed feeding the ungrateful ravenous birds that I felt more like shooting and frying up at the moment than feeding.

The snow up to my knees didn't help.

Finally, it was done, and I made a quick foray into the garage to turn off the lights and close the door before climbing up my porch again to grab the trash bags. I was pretty lucky that there was only two, and both were light enough for me to bring down with relatively little trouble. So, with a grunt, I hefted both of them and made my way carefully down our long driveway frowning as I saw that the way was darker than it should have been. I looked up quickly, and saw that the sky, which had been pretty light after dinner, was getting dark at a rapid and frightening rate. I shuddered slightly as I continued on my way, wondering what astrological event could possibly make the sky darken that quickly… there wasn't an eclipse today, was there? I'd be pissed if I missed it…

By the time I had gotten to the trash barrel and thrown the bags into it, it was almost as if night had descended upon the world. I grumbled and turned, but stopped abruptly as I saw a strange, wavering light ahead of me. It wasn't something like a headlight, no; I wasn't stupid enough to be staring at a headlight like some moron. Besides, it was green and purple, and it was swirling slightly in slow, languid circles.

_Awesome…_ I thought, walking toward it slowly. It didn't seem to be substantial at all, merely a light hovering around four feet off the ground. I was entranced, and decided to do something that I normally would never have done.

I reached up and touched it.

The reaction was immediate. The light latched onto my hand like some invisible goo, spreading up my arm at a speed that I could only gawk at. Wherever it touched, I began to feel numb, as if my limbs were disappearing.

_Great,_ I snapped at myself, _What have I told you? Never make a split second decision!_

Okay, so I guess I do talk to myself sometimes… must have got it from my mom. But this was a special situation, here! This light was practically eating me! I struggled, but the movement seemed to make it spread faster, and soon I was entirely covered. I could still see, although it was like looking through some weird glowing glass, but it wasn't hurting me… yet.

Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet disappeared, and I began falling. Only one thought flashed through my mind as the gut-wrenching sensation of descent intensified.

_Oh, now that wasn't good…_

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_Just tell me what you think (hides in corner)_


	2. They're Real

_You guys really like it so far, huh? Hehe.  
Gotta go in a sec, so I make this a fast as possible..._

_DarkXeno: Hi, how are ya? XP Well, thanks for telling me where to find the set, and thanks for thinking of me as normal! To answer your question; I found the Aliens figures at my own hometown store many, many years ago when the first movie was still pretty big. They're the old ones, the major collectables. I'm glad I have 'em. As for the DVD... you can find that anywhere._

_Bsdisaster: Wow, thanks for not ripping my head off and actually thinking this is good so far, it really helps that I'm not going to be thought of in a lesser way because i got nagged by a mental blurb XD Thanks again!_

_Meli: Awsome name you have! To answer your question, to get the stripes in my hair I had my mom use the little spatula that came with the ahir dye to make the lines. It's a two-person job, but the results are excellent! Orange and black... (drool) Too bad bl;ack would look horrible in my hair XD_

_PEF: Thanks a bunch. I hope this chapter keeps up with your standards!_

_Short chap, but I didn't want to move forward too quickly yet. Hopefully, it'll tide you over for a bit, though :)_

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"Oh, shiiiiiiiit!"

I was falling, falling fast and very, very far. The air around me was pitch black, so dark that even if I had been about to fall on a pile of gleaming white spikes I would never have seen them coming, and if the walls around me –if there were any walls- had been a mere three inches away I would have been unable to see them at all. To put it simply; it was dark, and I was falling.

And I didn't like it.

Ever been to one of those big amusement parks, where they have those huge hydraulic rides that strap everyone in and drop them at an insane speed towards the ground hundreds of feet below? That's how I felt dropping down. Sure, if I hadn't had that feeling that my stomach had been left somewhere back home and that I would splat on the ground at any second I might have enjoyed it. I had, after all, always wanted to see what it would be like to fly. It was part of the reason that I liked to try out roller coasters, to see if they could give me a semblance of flight. But, then again, I didn't like having my gut say goodbye and then up and disappear on me, either.

Suddenly, there was a light ahead! It was faint, and almost indistinguishable, but it was there! If I hadn't been so afraid that I would be flattened into the ground in a few seconds I might have been happy to see it.

The light slowly grew, and I strained my eyes to try and see what was at the end of the tunnel, for now I could see that I was in a tunnel. There was only fuzziness for a moment, and then a shape grew. My eyes widened as I recognized the black, streamlined form, the jagged ridges and the long, scorpion-like tail that was poised as if to strike. As the echo of my scream reverberated around me, I saw the oblong, smooth curving skull look up slightly before I suddenly found myself falling through cold air.

I hit it right in the back, my yell abruptly halted as the air was knocked out of me. The Xenomorph screamed as it was knocked to the floor, and on reflex my arm snapped out to grab the end of its tail. I mentally thanked the powers for my fast and previously thought useless goalie responses as I held on for dear life, gripping one of the useful projections from the Xeno's back with my free hand while using the other 'spikes' as places for my feet.

The Xeno thrashed, screeching and flailing as it tried to get at me. I was wrenched this way and that, barely keeping my grip on the incredibly powerful tail that I knew would impale me if I let go. The clawed arms slashed at me, but I happened to be in the one place that the creature couldn't effectively reach. I wasn't planning on letting go, either, but I couldn't stay like this!

With a scream of rage and terror, I yanked the tail down, feeling my fingers beginning to bleed from the sharp edges of the bone-like segments, and used the cutting edge of the tail blade to slice across the Xeno's neck. Hot, acidic green blood spayed all over, and I yelped as some of it dripped onto my hand, though the rest of me was protected from the flying liquid by the fact that I was behind the alien. I refused to let go, however, until the creature stopped moving once and for all; I was not going to chance getting hurt because I had been stupid and reckless when dealing with the creature.

It reared and slammed back, hitting me against the wall with a force that sent and instant jolt of agony through my back, though I knew that no bones had been broken. I yelled out a particularly vehement curse and kicked it with one of my feet, which had come free when the creature had squished me against the stone wall. The screeching continued; horrible, agonized sounds that rent the air with primal force as the creature slowly fell to the floor, blood still spraying out of the wounds. I was forced to leap away to keep from being seriously burned, though I still refused to release the tail of the creature in case it would thrash and connect with me.

I staggered as my feet hit solid stone, knees weak as I turned and glared at the dying creature, which was now barely twitching on the sizzling floor. I'd killed it; I'd killed the damn bastard thing.

Wait… I'd killed it! SHIT!

The Xeno stopped twitching, and its tail went completely limp in my hand. With a stiff, jerky movement I released it, my fingers feeling numb as I heard it hit the floor with a dull thud. I was in shock, complete and utter shock; I had killed a Xeno, one of the most perfect predators known to the sci-fi worlds…

A roar brought me back to reality, and I looked up quickly, crouching in an automatic reaction as I saw the huge, humanoid form that I knew so well begin to advance on me, spear extended and ready to throw. The mask was so strange… my brow furrowed before my eyes widened in sudden recognition. With a gasp of both horror and wonder, I recognized the place, the area I was in. The three forms running towards a different room showed me exactly what part of this strange event I had come in at, as well.

I backed up slightly, stepping over the body of the Xeno and flexing my fingers; the only weapons I had at the moment. My sister had always referred to my fingernails as being the 'nails of death', considering that each was almost an inch long in their own right. If I had to, I'd fight for my life with them alone, though I knew for certain that I'd lose. I hadn't gotten this far to go down without a fight!

Suddenly, another form appeared to my right, and I growled as I saw that I had come in a bit earlier than I thought. Then, a thought occurred to me, and I looked down at the dead Xeno, then back up at the two menacing Predators, then back down, then back up again.

"Oh, that's just fuckin' great," I muttered to myself, "I killed the damn Grid alien!"

And the Predator known as Chopper by the internet people was still alive! From what I'd seen in the movie, he hadn't exactly been all that nice to humans in the four or so scenes he'd been in… but if I had fallen on the Grid alien, and I had killed it… then I had just saved this guy's life!

Heh, cool. Barely two minutes stuck in this damn movie, and already I had turned it upside down. Yea for me.

That didn't stop the fact that both of these Yautja seemed to really, really want to kill me at the moment…

I yelped as the larger one –I remembered that his name was Celtic- threw the spear. On nothing but pure instinct I dodged, feeling the wind from it passing brush by my coat. Instantly, I was angry.

"Hey, you dumb fucking bastard! You almost ruined my coat!" I snarled, my language truly reverting to show my thoughts on the matter. This coat had cost a lot; they were _so_ not going to ruin it, especially since both of them should have been _dead_ by now. The sound of metal brushing metal alerted me to the fact that Chopper had just extended his wristblades.

I suddenly remembered the alien carcass under me. Perhaps that could be used to my advantage? I didn't have much time to think as Chopper swung at me, and I barely leapt back in time to avoid the wristblades giving me a lethal strike. As it was, he still was able to score two jagged lines on my left arm, and I clutched it with a yelp as the pain ripped through me, ignoring the fact that he had indeed succeeded in ruining my precious, precious coat.

This wasn't a fight I could win, by any means. Hell, I barely knew the first thing about fighting!

Celtic had disappeared; I knew that wasn't good. He had probably cloaked himself and was coming up to ambush me. I dodged another slash from Chopper -very, very happy about my reflexes- and listened hard, trying to find out where the hell the larger one had gotten to.

But suddenly, a series of screeches and a roar of anger erupted behind me. I turned, and cried out as the large form of Chopper shoved past me, knocking me to the floor roughly. With a snarl of rage I got to my feet, only to stop and stare with wide eyes at the scene.

Three Xeno's had come out of nowhere, it seemed, and all of them were currently engrossed in battling the two Yautja that were roaring and fighting and chopping the aliens to tiny little bits, giving me absolutely no attention. I groaned as I heard the pyramid begin shifting, and then brightened as I realized that this could be my chance to get out of here!

I looked down, seeing the ornate spear that was embedded into the floor only a few feet away, and ripped it out quickly before I began running towards the same exit that the three other humans had taken. As I ran, I tried not to pay attention to the other humans that were strewn about, particularly not the one that had been caught in the net. That was just disgusting. The place even smelled of death, though that wasn't surprising, considering how many dead people there was.

"Well, Jess," I huffed to myself as I ran, hoping desperately that the battlers would take no notice of the figure running for her life in the background, "They're real!"


	3. One Hell of an Earful

_Hello, hello. I return with another short yet entertaining chapter._

_DarkXeno(i'm answering all your questions in one go...): Been to Ceder Point exactly once in my life, and that's the end of my Theme Park adventures. An Alien/Sonic crossover fic sounds neat, but I'm sure you wouldn't want me to stall even more on any of my other fics, so if I ever do write one, it'll be in the far future and will probably be just a one-shot. A funny one-shot at that. I do not own a facehugger or a chestburster T-shirt. If I had a Facehugger I would indeed have been wearing it or at least have had it with me, but I draw the line at the T-shirts. I personally don't like Chestbursters at all XD. The other story will take a while to update, becuase I am currently taking a break from it to gather my ideas, get a better feel for the characters, and to just have the luxury of taking a break while I let my creativity span to other things for a while. A while as in maybe a few weeks or a month or so, not one day  
I also agree that they slow-motion running with Scar and Lexmay have been a bit much, but at least it gives hard-core fans a good laugh XD._

_Bsdisaster: You haven't seen AvP? Wow, you actually have my pity...  
Sorry that I quashed your hopes of having it set in the future (shrug) I just went wherever my inspiration led._

_Crista of Herac: Heh, Writers block sucks, and so a blurb is born! Thanks for the R&R!_

_So, without further interruptions and/or question answering, here is the next chapter of 'Unreal'!_

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_And wow, do I feel a mix of emotions about that little tidbit_, I thought sarcastically. Sure, I was terrified for my life, who wouldn't be? But also, mixed in with that terror, was a type of uproarious glee that somehow, someway, all my dreams had come true! Adrenaline rushed through me as I pounded through the halls, avoiding the moving bits of stone as well as I could. I already knew that, ahead of me, Weyland would be dead and the three others would be in various rooms. Now, all I needed to do was find the room that had the humans in it, and all would be pretty much okay until I found myself in another life-threatening situation after five minutes or so.

Wow, such an easy job I had.

And it was made so much easier by the fact that I had absolutely no idea where I was. Sure, I had practically memorized the movie, but the movie didn't show the entire way around the pyramid, and the thing shifted every ten minutes, so I could be in the same exact room I had been in before and never know it. But I did know that I was going in the right direction, at least.

Suddenly, I saw a solid wall in front of me, and I cursed out loud as I slapped it with the flat of my hand. Damn this place and the stupid shifting walls! I turned around, looking to both the right and left of me to see if I had somehow missed a passage. Lucky me, there was a long hall on my left side, and I slipped through it without a thought. Well, if movie logic served me, I would get where I was going no matter where I turned, so it didn't matter… unless this place, wherever I had truly ended up, was based more on reality than movie events.

And it might be, considering I had changed the entire thing by falling in on the scene, however reluctantly. I huffed a little as I walked, listening hard to see if I could maybe hear signs of other life. I had been running pretty fast down those hallways, and that coupled with the battle and being attacked was much more exercise than I was used to, unfortunately. I had to rest or I would never be able to fight off anything.

I sat down, the spear in my hand still clutched tightly; there was no frikin' way I was gonna let it out of my sight for even an instant, because if I lost it I would lose my only chance at survival down here, in this place. Already I was colder than I had ever thought possible; my arms were freezing and my legs might as well have not been there. I hadn't come to this place prepared for the artic temperatures, though I had come more prepared than I would have been if I had suddenly found myself transported while on the computer at home or something. My shirt was pretty thick, too; green and made of fuzzy crimp that kept in heat fairly well.

But that wasn't enough to keep me warm, and I shivered as I stared at the opposite wall, my mind withdrawing into itself as I thought. The wall had beautiful patterns on it, many were letters and hieroglyphs that I couldn't understand, but the pictures that I could see were wonderful; true works of art. It was something that an artist like myself could appreciate fully, even when she was fighting for her life.

The reality of it hit me then. I wasn't just fighting on some jaunt through the countryside, with set rules and a code of conduct; I was indeed fighting for my _life_. I could _die_ in this place, if I wasn't careful. In fact I was likely to die here, and I couldn't afford to think that it was all a dream, or that I would be okay based on the fact that I was from reality. I had to use all I had to survive, and I knew I had a distinct advantage over the other humans. I knew how this story would play out, more or less.

Yeah, more or less. The fact that I had sorta saved two Yautja by coming here might set that off a bit.

A pain in my arm reminded me that I hadn't escaped unscathed, and I chanced a quick look at my left limb to see how bad it was. Unfortunately, my ripped coat was in the way, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to see a damn thing with it on, so I transferred my spear to my right hand and pulled my arm out with a hiss as the wounds encountered cold air.

Ugh, now that looked gross. I stared at the two long gashes, fascinated in some morbid way by the wound that was still bleeding slightly. Lucky for me, the pockets of my coat still had a bunch of clean Kleenex from when I had been sick, and I pulled them out. Antibacterial, even better! With a wince and grit teeth, I began covering the slashes, sticking them to the blood gingerly. Finally, it was dressed as well as I knew how, and I put my coat back on and leaned back against the wall, wondering when the next shift would be and if it would squish me.

I sighed, setting my head against the wall and closing my eyes. I could hear something, though… it sounded like some sort of skittering. Almost like mice or…

A spider. My eyes flew open, and I froze as I glared in all directions, looking for that small, tell-tale movement that would tell me where my enemy was. In a moment I had found it, but in that same moment the facehugger chose to jump.

My arm came up automatically, and I felt the creature latch onto my hand. I shuddered in disgust, shaking it off it's precarious perch and grabbing it's tail with my other hand as quickly as I was able, trying desperately to keep the writhing thing from gaining an attachment anywhere on my body. Finally, I decided to try it the old-fashioned 'me' way, and just kill it simply.

I brought my hand up, the one that had it's tail gripped firmly, and commenced slamming the creature into the floor as hard as I possibly could, snarling a stream of curses as I went.

"God damn you, you fucking bastard spider! You think you could latch onto my face? I'll show you, you dumbass fucker; go to freaking hell!"

It squeaked every time it hit the stone, and the sounds it made only made me hit it to the floor harder until it was silent. I put one foot on its inert and broken body and stood up, bringing my spear to bear as I removed my foot and slammed it down, cleanly cleaving the stunned spiderling in half. I stared at it for a moment, my face contorted in disgust as I saw it twitch, its corrosive blood eating through the floor.

The blood… should I mark myself a warrior? Heh, nah; that was only for the Yautja to do, no matter how tempting it might be. Besides, if I ever got back, mom would be downright livid if she saw a scar like that on my face; she'd probably faint or something, and then give me a lecture on how I really shouldn't get tattoos without her permission. I wasn't even a real warrior anyway! I just fought because I had to; I didn't even like it.

But taking a trophy wouldn't be bad. Besides, I'd always wanted one of those little legs or fingers as my own. I closed my eyes slightly, listening hard, but I couldn't make out anything besides the sound of my muffled breathing. It seemed that I had been lucky, and my cursing hadn't been loud enough to bring any others to the area. With a relieved sigh, I knelt down and gripped one of the unbroken legs in my hand firmly, twisting back as hard as I could and smiling as I heard a satisfying crack. When I looked back at it, I saw that the finger had broken cleanly, and there was very little blood that dripped from it. Still, to be sure, I tapped it against the floor to drain it, making a little design in the stone that looked like a tiny claw.

I looked at the design, and then back at the finger, a speculative look crossing my face. Yes, that would be perfect! I wouldn't mark myself a warrior, no, I would just give myself a little scar on my hand. People got those all the time, and I could just say that I had slammed my arm into something sharp. Sure, I could stand the lecture on watching where I was going for that, and it could serve as my proof to myself that what had happened really _had_ happened, and I hadn't been dreaming.

I grit my teeth, knowing that it was going to hurt from the spot on my left hand where I had been touched by the blood before, and slowly drew the design on the back of my right hand. It burned like hell, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from crying out, but it was turning out better than I had anticipated. Xeno blood was a good art tool for skin runes, it seemed, and considering that there was only two lines I needed to make, the pain was only minimal.

"Awesome," I commented after I had finished, tapping the finger on the floor once more to continue draining the blood. The design, made up of two simple curved lines, looked exactly like the claw of one of my favorite extinct animals, the deinonychus. I smiled and tucked the drained finger into my coat pocket, gripping my spear tight as ever as I cocked my head to listen, then continued on down the hallway.

Suddenly, the pyramid began to shift, and I sighed as I stopped. Then, the wall to my right shifted, opening into a larger room, and the hall before me slammed shut. I looked to my right, considering the room and wondering if it would be a good idea to go in, when the wall behind me began to shift forward. With a yelp of surprise, I leapt into the larger room and turned just in time to see the wall slam shut. I glared at it for a moment, and then began to listen, using my hearing to establish if this room had anything dangerous or not. For now, it seemed safe, and I looked at it curiously.

It seemed to be another long hall like the one I had come in at, with huge statues and pillars in the shape of gigantic Yautja. I rolled my eyes at the display, wondering why ancient cultures had to be so blatant in their worship, and moved forward, one thought crossing my mind.

_The next thing that jumps out in front of me with intention to kill is going to get one hell of an earful!_


	4. Not Just a Dreamer

_Thanks for the nice reviews!_

_Longer chapter this time! Joy XD  
Raptor-chick: Wow, thanks a lot for the high praise, it amazes me. And it is indeed strange trying to write about oneself in different situations, but one thing that you can be sure of is that its kinda hard to get out of character XD  
I sent you the link to my Dev-art site via e-mail, I hope yeu get it okay since my hotmail is screwy. I wouldn't mind seeing your art, either! I'm sure it'll be awsome, just like your characters!_

_Bsdisaster: Interaction with other people? Well... sorta... XD

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I leaned back and smiled, glad to have had the idea that I did. The Xeno's and the Yautja would have a hard time finding me here! Well, even if they didn't I would still have the jump on them; literally, because I had climbed to the top of a smaller pillar and had a great view of the entire room from the spot. I knew that I had a long while before anything major happened, like the pyramid blowing up and all, and I also knew that I needed to find a way out before then. But that was a bit of a problem, considering how very exit-less this room currently was.

So I waited, and the shift came sooner than I would have liked. Relaxing was starting to grow on me, not that it hadn't before, but this time I could definitely appreciate it.

But I cursed softly as the shift only brought a slew of bad news, basically in the form of four Xeno's attacking a Yautja. I rose an eyebrow in speculation as I saw that the Yautja was the one known as Chopper, his unique mask was a dead giveaway even from that distance. Even I knew that it wasn't a fair fight, though, because the Yautja didn't have his plasma cannon and the four Xeno's were working pretty well in sync, attacking strategically to penetrate his defenses.

I mulled over if I wanted to help him or not. Certainly it would get rid of the Xeno's that were threatening me at the moment, because this room hadn't had any before and if they lived they would be certain to find me, and without the help of the Yautja I doubted I would be able to take them on alone. I only had a spear, after all, and a creative mind.

Plus, if he lived, he might be persuaded to let me follow him, and I could perhaps find the exit and get out of this godforsaken place. Hey, if it worked for Lex, why not me?

I rose up, the spear held firmly in hand, and waited while the battle slowly moved over towards me. The four Xeno's were trying to force Chopper back against the wall, making it harder for him to turn or attack them effectively. Considering that the Xeno's were able to walk on vertical surfaces just as well as horizontal, they would have a definite advantage.

Chopper took down one of them just as he reached my pillar, and the creature's screech of surprise was effectively cut off as its head was separated from its body by a strange type of bladed disk. The Yautja turned and slashed at another that was coming for him, and green blood went flying as both attacks hit. I winced as I saw the glowing green line traced across Chopper's middle, but it was shallow compared to the wound he had inflicted upon the Xeno. That one was currently twitching on the floor, close to death.

The remaining two were taking advantage of the Yautja's weaknesses, trying to slash at the wounds he already had or pin him to the ground with their leaps. Finally I saw an opening; I moved, leaping into the air silently and coming down hard on one of the creature's backs. It screeched in surprise at the unexpected weight on its back before I slammed my spear into the back of its head, silencing it forever in one swift movement. Wow, was it just me, or was I getting good at this?

The other Xeno was in the air within an instant, leaping at me, and I was thrown to the ground by the force of its impact. I twisted on instinct, barely avoiding the toothed tongue that slammed into the stone not an inch past my ear. Fear bubbled up within me as I realized that I couldn't get my spear out from under me, which was where it had somehow ended up when I had fallen. Damn it all!

Plus, the damn thing was drooling on me! I snarled in disgust and darted my hand up, gripping it just below the jaw and pushing its head away from me as well as I could, considering that the creature was bigger and more powerful than I was. I gasped as its tail rose up, a menacing promise of death.

Suddenly, it was kicked from the side, and the creature went flying from the force, slamming into a wall with a shower of dust. I struggled up quickly, raising an eyebrow as I saw Chopper fighting with the black creature that had again leapt into the air and tried to pin him under its weight. The Yautja wasn't as disadvantaged as I had been, however, and he kicked the Xeno off easily, slashing at it with half-melted wristblades and the bladed disk I had seen earlier. I brandished my spear, snarling in a feral way as I advanced. The message was quite clear to all.

This bitch was mine!

I must have been a pretty intimidating sight, because Chopper backed off when I shoved him out of the way –well, as much as I could shove a seven-foot tall alien body-builder-, my eyes locked on the Xeno that was hissing at us from its place by the wall. My spear moved almost as if by its own will, rapping against the tough skull of the Xeno as I smacked it across the head.

"Leap on me, will you?" I screamed, anger turning my sight red. Well, if I had to lose control someday, I was glad it was now, when I could use it, "Die, you asshole!"

It screeched and slashed at me, and I narrowed my eyes as an intense pain shot through my wounded arm. Damn, that hurt like hell! But I wasn't willing to show weakness; not now, when I had to kill this damn thing that was the last fucking one of them in this room! Still, my spear shuddered for a moment before I could regain control of the nerves in my hand, and the Xeno took full advantage of that by charging at me.

I started to move out of the way, but the charge was too fast, and I was knocked to the floor again. The creature used its tail first this time, darting it forward like a demented scorpion and embedding it into the place where my head had once been. Lucky for me I had been expecting it and moved quick enough… I snarled, my spear held firmly in my left hand, and slammed the metal into the creature's side. It screamed, second mouth flying out and almost crushing my head, while its tail ripped from the stone and whistled through the air in death throes. I grunted, pushing the spear in farther and pulling the handle towards me in my desperation to kill it quickly, causing the wound to rip open farther. Acidic blood spilled out onto the floor and, unfortunately, my coat.

"Oh, you bastard!" I screamed, kicking the twitching body off from me and standing quickly, my attention fixed on my coat. I sighed as I saw that it wasn't completely destroyed -the blood had caught only the edge-, but I would be hard-pressed to find a way to zip it. With a growl, I knelt and ripped the spear from the still twitching Xeno, glaring at it before shaking the metal out on a clear spot of floor.

"God damned fucking sons of bitches think they can ruin my favorite coat," I muttered, using my favorite curse words once again. I ignored the curious growling that was coming from behind me until I suddenly remembered that there was another creature in the room, and then I turned somewhat sheepishly, although I was trying to look as angry as possible.

Chopper was regarding me curiously, head tilted to one side as he looked at the spear in my hand, the Xeno's, and then to my right hand, which I had marked earlier. I glared back, trying to make my eyes as warning as possible. I did_ not_ want a recurrence of what had happened in the first hall, I just wasn't in the mood for it at all. If he wanted to attack me, he could do it later.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," I snorted snidely, lip curling as I studied him. He was pretty tall, now that I saw him clearly; actually, he was about two feet taller than I was. Heck, and I thought I had been tall… guess I was wrong. Two small skulls were attached to sticks on his back that displayed them as if the puny things were of high importance, and his mask looked almost as if someone had put those blocky sunglasses on his face for eye sensors. I nearly felt like laughing, if I hadn't been so burnt out from my anger.

"Great," I said with a chuckle, "I get stuck with the rock-star wannabe Predator. Isn't there a law against this somewhere in the movie-verse?"

He didn't respond, but he moved closer. I tensed, grip tightening on my spear as I watched him warily; just because human and Yautja had worked together before didn't mean that all of them would be open to it; it just meant that there were documented cases. He slowed, tilting his head again and rumbling in what I guessed was supposed to be a reassuring way. Unfortunately, the sound only made me want to run and climb up that pillar I had been sitting on to get away, and I flinched backwards when his hand came up.

He stopped, gauging my reaction, and I cursed at myself as I forced my limbs to remain still. What was I thinking? If I ran now, I would be dead within a few hours for sure! I had to at least attempt to become allies with this Predator, or I was never going to see home or write another story again.

This time, I stayed in one spot as the Yautja gripped my wrist, taking the spear from my hand and ignoring my warning growl as he investigated the mark I had drawn. I fought with myself to stay calm, to stay motionless and to not jerk my hand back out of Chopper's grip by reaction as he ran his clawed fingers over the still tender scar. Belatedly, I saw the mark from the movies set in his own mask, and knew that he had killed one of the creatures before, probably in the other hall where I had come in.

"Yeah, you saw yourself that I killed one, what's it to ya?" I snarled softly, eyes' staring directly into the visor on his face in what I hoped was a defiant look. I did not want to be burdened with this at all! I just wanted to get out of this place, even though it may have been awesome to realize that I was indeed running around in the AVP world. Plus, I wasn't in that great a mood, after being attacked and having my arm ripped up twice, which was still hurting pretty bad. Funny, how a person starts to be able to ignore pain after having a wound hurt constantly for a long while.

Suddenly, Chopper let go of the arm he was holding and grabbed the wounded one, clicking curiously as he stared at the ripped flesh under the coat. I grit my teeth, wishing that I could at least hold my spear so I could impale him if I wanted to, and suddenly he pressed his thumb into the jagged slash. Instantly, a wave of intense agony washed through me, and I let out a scream before I knew what I was doing, my legs going weak as I nearly fell to the floor.

After I had regained a semblance of clear thought, I jerked my arm back out of his light grip and leapt back, holding the now bleeding extremity close to me.

"What the hell was that for?" I demanded through my teeth, breath still harsh from the sudden pain. Of course, he ignored me, taking out a long metal box and opening it, revealing several strange looking, small tools that reminded me of something akin to both woodworking and dentistry. He knelt down where he stood, pressing a button on a small device and setting it on the stone as it grew into a small disk. My eyes widened in recognition as I suddenly found myself backing up. Oh, if he was doing what I thought he was doing…

The flare of green flame and the crunch of several different plaster-like materials confirmed my thoughts seconds later, and I couldn't stop the muffled whimper from escaping my lips. Oh, no, not that! Just watching the second movie had made me wince when I had seen that!

In moments, Chopper had prepared the blue, gooey substance, and was looking at me expectantly. I frowned and shook my head defiantly.

"Hell no," I said stubbornly, "Nuh uh, not happening. This may hurt like a bitch, but I know for sure that that stuff'll hurt like a sonofabitch!"

He growled commandingly, and I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't going to do it! My arm could heal very well on it's own, thank you very much! I didn't need some alien medicine to help me with that, I just needed to get out of this place. If he wanted to scream in agony by putting the stuff on his own wounds, he could go right ahead and do that. I would wait.

He glared at me, and I glared right back. Finally sensing that he wasn't going to win that way, the Yautja lifted my spear; clicking the button on the side and making it retract before setting it firmly on the opposite side of the disk. After that was done, he pointed at me, gestured to the disk, and then the spear. The message was pretty clear; if I wanted the spear back, I was going to cooperate. If I didn't, he would take it.

"This is blackmail, you know that?" It seemed that he didn't care.

I growled angrily and stalked up to the disk, sitting down and peeling off my coat to expose my mangled arm. I winced when I saw the newly opened gashes, and began tearing off the shredded Kleenex to expose more of it. Damn, it was worse then I had thought, and I would be lucky if I didn't need stitches when I got back. As it was, I was already making a face as I plucked the last shred of red-tinted material out of the wound with my overly long fingernails. Chopper waited impatiently until I had finished, and then grabbed my arm roughly.

"Hey! I wasn't done with-" I began, but then the pure torture of the blue stuff ripped through me, and the words died on my lips as I was saying them, my entire body going rigid with the shock that was so painful it was almost painless. _Almost_, "Gah, Dammit that hurts!" I managed to squeak out, teeth grinding together and eyes squinting shut as the pain became all. There was nothing other than pain in my universe, nothing but the white-hot agony burning through my arm.

And then, after what seemed like forever, though I knew that it couldn't have been more than two minutes, he released my arm. I gasped and pulled back, eyes flying open as I stared down at the wounds that were now liberally covered in the goo that still burned, but was beginning to make my arm go numb. I wondered idly if that was supposed to happen as I flexed my fingers, feeling less pain than I had been expecting and grunting in what could have classified as unenthusiastic approval.

Chopper made a sound that seemed suspiciously like a snort, and then raised the blue substance to his own wounds. I winced as his pained roar echoed through the room, reverberating off the walls and stonework, even though I had vaguely been expecting something like that to happen. At the edges of my mind I noted that this pyramid had very good resonance; any one of my old music teachers probably would have loved it. Heh, they would have loved it if they didn't have to get past a slew of Xeno's to go in a door, anyway.

I shivered as I remembered exactly how cold it was in this place, grabbing my coat and draping it around me in an effort to keep in my meager heat. I wished that I had thought to bring my hat with me when I went outside; though I hated wearing the thing, it was the best and warmest piece of winter wear I owned. It would have been able to warm up my frozen hands better than anything else I had here, even though my pockets were doing a valiant job of that. I looked blankly at my shoes as I waited for the Yautja to finish treating the slashes that riddled his body, noticing that one of the shoelaces was beginning to come untied. I reluctantly shifted my hands out of the slowly warming pockets to tie them as tight as I comfortably could; it wouldn't do to trip when I needed to run, after all.

I heard a shuddering groan as the room around us began to shift, the stones rearranging themselves into a completely different position. I wondered how many combinations of rooms were possible; probably not that many, considering that even though this place had hundreds of rooms, the stones could only move so far from their original places. In all probability the tunnels weren't all that varied, and most of them most likely led to the same places, more or less.

There was a hiss of metal against metal as Chopper extended his wristblades, though I could easily see that the half-melted blades weren't going to be much help in a real fight. He looked up, his gaze sweeping the room warily, but I could already see that the one exit revealed was to the hall that I had already gone through. This time, it was heading to the right, but that was all. Still, I closed my eyes and listened for the skittering that would signify a Facehugger in the vicinity.

Nothing. It seemed that luck was holding for me. I opened my eyes to find that Chopper was holding the spear out to me in his impatient, half-disgusted with himself way, and with a grunt I took it, extending it to its full length so that I wouldn't have to take any time if I happened to run into one of the Xeno's. The Yautja growled commandingly and began running towards the opened passage, and I yelped as I slipped my arms into my coat and followed as well as I was able. It seemed that he was only moving at a light trot, but the pace was more than fast enough to make me run at almost full-tilt.

I was suddenly thankful for the numbing substance on may arm, because I knew that if I hadn't had it I would have been jarring the open wounds very painfully about now. I was also happy about the fact that I had been running more lately, so this wasn't exactly a huge challenge.

Then, a thought hit me like a rock, and I almost stumbled while I ran. I looked up at the broad back of the Yautja ahead of me, and then glanced at the spear as my eyes widened to their limits.

Whoa. I had actually made an ally! Plus, I'd survived three Xeno attacks. Yeah, I'd survived! Heck, I had been under the impression that I would have died five minutes into the movie if I ever actually got into that type of a situation, but I guess that real pressure can really show a person what they're made of.

No one at home could tell me that I was just a dreamer, now.

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_Hey Bsdisaster: thanks for the heads up the the realistic factor of my story, and I indeed edited that scene so that it supported a tougher Xeno. Thank you again._


	5. Not Good

_Hello again all you beloved readers out there! (hugs all)_

_Bsdisaster: I indeed edited that scene in the last chapter to be more realistic, and made a few more scenes in other chapters to support that. Thank you for making me keep an eye on my realism factor!_

_DarkXeno: I don't know why I don't care for chestbursters. In all reality I should, considering I love the way they just pop out of people's chests and look so damn cool when they're curled up. (shrug) probably just one of those 'me' things thatI do for no reason. I mean,I think full-grownAliens and facehuggers rock...  
Wow, I love Dilophosaurus too! It's right up there with my all time favorites like Baryonx and Suchimimus. Heh, I like the crests on 'em, too. I just have a thing for anything with spikes, scales, or other monster-like features XD I also think your theory is very possible, and in fact I would ask your permission to incorperate it into EoaPS in later chapters, if you'll let me.  
Also, asking if I'm gonna live is a very good question, 'cause even I'm kinda unsure about that right about now. I'm nearing the end of it in the part I'm writing and I want to have it go out in a realistic bang, but I have about seven possible endings and I'm still undecided as to which one I like more. A few of them leave openings for a sequel, but I'm not sure I would want to do a sequel yet.  
Oh, and 'liberally' actually means 'abundantly' or 'profusely' in the context that I used it in, unless I actually did switch the two words somewhere, but I'm pretty sure I only used it once or twice...  
Plus, you'll just have to wait to see if I meet Lex/Scar. (evil giggles)_

_OtakusVengeance: Glad you like, and here be the update you wanted!_

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_Is this the never-ending hallway or what?_ I thought sarcastically, my breath coming in sharp and tired gasps as I forced myself to keep running, to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Chopper, damn him, still looked as fresh as if he had just began running, and that fact made me feel pretty weak and insignificant. I hated feeling that way; for some reason, I felt like I was representing the current state of human youth. Heh, yup; I was giving myself important titles now.

But I knew that most of the people I knew at home would have died a few times over by now, if only because they would have had no idea what type of situation they were in. Hell, I only knew maybe two people who had even seen the movie, and none who found the two species as fascinating as I did. I was probably the only one who would have had an inkling of what was happening at all or what to do about it.

Well, if that didn't inflate my ego at all, nothing would.

The pounding pace did serve as a good thing for a few reasons, however. One, the movement was serving very well to keep my circulation going, and therefore I wasn't all that cold in the bitingly frigid air. Reason number two was that running was taking my mind off the gravity of the situation, and I wasn't quite as worried as I had been about getting home and such. Really, I was about ready to just say the hell with home and let's just make our goal getting out of the pyramid in one piece.

Suddenly, Chopper stopped, and I screeched to a halt as my train of thought was shattered in an instant, almost slamming into the alien as my body began to fly a little farther than my feet. Lucky for me, I managed to keep my balance and look halfway coherent while the Yautja grumbled something in his own language, considering the two passageways that forked from either side of the long tunnel we had been running down.

I looked to the right side, which seemed to be a bit brighter and had several yards of hieroglyphs running on walls and floors, illustrating what I guessed was the story of the Xeno and Yautja history. It looked pretty interesting, but I was starting to feel like time was running out. I knew that it hadn't been all that long in the movie before the bomb had gone off, and I really, really didn't want to be running around with Mr. Rock Star inside here when that happened. Even though I had a feeling that Chopper and Celtic, if that one was still alive, would both get the message and try to run as fast as they could when that happened.

But I still wanted to be as close to the exit as possible in the event of that happening. Wouldn't you?

Now all I needed to do was not get killed by Xeno's, and there I was.

There couldn't have been that many Xeno's left, anyway, besides the Queen and the hatched Facehuggers. I mean; there hadn't been that many humans down in this place to begin with. I mentally counted in my head; after the eight that I knew had already been killed, combined with the three or so that had been killed in the course of the movie… well, it just didn't make sense unless more than one Xeno could erupt from a single host. I really hoped that that wasn't the case, but I hadn't created the damn things, so I didn't know. Besides, who was to say that there hadn't been other creatures here that the Xeno's could have used?

"Hisssssss…."

"Dammit," I muttered, looking up towards the sound that had come from the ceiling above just in time to be leapt at by a huge black form. I cried out, scrambling backwards and tripping, falling heavily on the stone floor with a force that made me wince. I didn't have much time to dwell on that fact, however, as the beast scuttled over to me, snarling and scratching and scoring at least one hit on my trashing leg. Even so, I managed to kick it in the head, growling a rather inappropriate phrase as I used my spear to fend off its tail.

Suddenly, Chopper was there, his melted blades and strange shruikens flashing in the low light as he slashed at the creature. I struggled upright, wincing as I felt a small pang in my leg but ignoring it as I watched the fury of the mêlée. The two battlers were fighting as if in their own worlds, both locked head to head as they struggled to overpower one another. I had no idea which way the fight would turn, so fierce was the conflict that ensued right before me.

I turned as a flash of movement caught the corner of my eye, and suddenly another Xeno had slipped past me, working with the other to slash at the unexpectedly disadvantaged Yautja. I gaped, one eye rising slightly in disbelief; it hadn't even looked at me! It had gone right past me to fight Chopper!

What was I, chopped liver? Did they really think that I wasn't a threat?

I bristled as I stared at the amazingly one-sided fight, angry that the damn creatures thought they could take away my one chance at getting out of here and back home. Chopper was at a major disadvantage in this closed space, where the Xeno's could use the walls and ceiling to help them leap. If he didn't get any help, the outcome of this battle was set.

_Nuh uh, you're not allowed to die until you get me out of here!_

Well, if they wanted to fight an unfair fight, I could at least even the odds a little. Besides, I felt kinda useless just standing there gaping like an idiot. With a snarling growl I lifted the spear and charged into the fray, tackling the second Xeno with all my might. I barely managed to gain its attention for more than a few seconds, because I suddenly realized that these creatures were built like extremely fast tanks, and it hadn't really felt the impact at all. Nor did it seem to care about me as it was currently trying to cut down the Yautja, which it seemed to judge the more immediate threat. But I knew from experience that I could make it feel pain if I wanted to, and I carefully aimed the spear as it was still slightly distracted, smashing it downwards as hard as I could where its tail joined its body.

It screeched and turned so fast that I was knocked backwards into the wall, all the breath pounded out of me and my back flaring up in pain as the bruises from before were jolted out of their tentative healing state. The spear was nearly ripped from my hands as the weapon was jerked out of the wound it had caused, and I felt myself let a feral grin cross my face when I saw that the bony tail was lying limp on the floor, all control over the extremity severed when the metal had parted the nerves. A sizzling sound reached my ears as the floor started to melt from the acid blood that was streaming from the wound I had caused.

"Hope that felt good, asshole, 'cause that's only the beginning," I rasped, a type of strange enthusiasm from the fight slowly rising within me as I took up a stance. Now _this_ was fun! Well, fun in that insane, death-defying way that I had always thought would never happen to me. The Xeno crouched in front of me, hissing and opening its mouth wide, revealing slime-covered, silver teeth and the infamous second maw that was oh-so-lethal if it got close enough to use it.

Within an instant it was in the air, all four legs splayed out and claws flashing. A split-second decision drove me to try out a technique seen in many different books and movies, and I darted forward, sidestepping just enough so that I wouldn't collide with the blood-covered tail and whirling around in time to see the creature smash headfirst into the wall that had been behind me. I couldn't help it; even in this type of situation and knowing that I could easily die in the next moment, I had to laugh.

The creature had recovered within seconds, and I cursed at myself when I realized that I had just passed up an opportunity to kill it quickly. Again it darted forward, and I barely had enough time to bring my spear up in a defensive maneuver before being slammed again into the opposite wall. I knew that the Xeno was trying to get me at a disadvantage so that it would be able to kill me with that lethal second maw, and from this position it would very likely be able to do so.

I did the only thing I could at the moment; I kicked.

My aim was good, and the Xeno staggered back with a curious hacking sound as my knee connected with its neck, just below where the head met the body. In all reality, it was the only place where the creatures weren't protected by tough chitin armor, and as such was the weakest place on their bodies. In the back of my mind, I remembered to note that reaction in case of other, similar situations. In the front of my mind, though, I recognized the second opportunity and swung the spear with little regard for aim, trying to get a powerful enough hit in to stun the Xeno long enough to get a direct head shot.

I managed to score a glancing blow across that unprotected neck, and the beast screamed as corrosive blood squirted out, hitting the very tip of my shoes and burning as I grit my teeth yet again. At least it was only the soles and not my flesh; thank the powers. As for the drop that had hit my jeans, I certainly wasn't so lucky, but I didn't have time to dwell on the pain as much as I would have liked –as in screaming and cursing and beating anything nearby over the head with a heavy and blunt object- because I was already aiming for the final blow.

The ornate spear penetrated the thick exoskeleton of the creature's skull neatly and with very little blood, a surprising fact considering how much blood emerged from any other type of wound and my horrendous aim. Instantly and probably a result of instinct or brain damage, the second mouth shot out, coming very close to my face and making me yelp in surprise and fear as the teeth snapped together just inches from my nose. I put all my weight into throwing the dead Xeno away from me as fast as I could, gripping the spear with both hands as I yanked it out of the limp body and trembling slightly as the exhilaration from the fight left me faster than it had came.

The only sound I could hear was my heavy breathing, and I looked up, puzzled that there weren't other noises of fighting. I realized why when I saw Chopper standing over his own kill, head tilted as he regarded me once again. With an air of disinterest I ignored him and rapped the spear against the stones, ridding it of any clinging green blood, and knelt down to examine the dead creature. It looked a little different from what I'd seen before; mainly it had reddish lines on its body. That was pretty strange, considering that there was only two types of Xeno I knew about, and I was certain that Black Xeno Queens didn't birth this type of color morph very often, if ever.

_Ooh, a rarity_. I grinned slightly as I snapped off one of its fingers with the help of the spear, marveling at the amazing two-toned color, and commenced draining it on the already pitted and ruined stone floor. I glanced up as I heard a curious growl above me, and sighed as Chopper knelt down, investigating the dead creature much as I had before. There was silence for a few moments, and then he rumbled approvingly, his clawed, mottled hands running over the surface of the skull that hadn't been crushed by my spear.

"Thanks," I sighed, guessing that he thought I had done pretty well for myself. I stood, pocketing the drained finger, and meandered over to the creature that he had taken down, seeing that its skull had been kept in perfect condition. Unlike mine, this one was a uniform black in color, and it was also larger. Must've come from a strong human, "You didn't do too bad, yourself, man. Awesome kill."

When I looked back, I saw that he was again studying me curiously. Involuntarily, I felt myself bristle at the attention.

"Will you cut that out?" I snapped irritably, "You're going to make me paranoid if you keep that up!"

He growled slightly, gesturing to the Xeno I had killed, then to me.

"Awesome kill," my own voice, slightly warped, came back to me. I gaped, completely caught off guard by the sudden realization that maybe he could actually understand me. Chopper didn't give me much time to absorb this, however, as he suddenly jumped up and began moving towards the left passageway. I realized why a moment later, as the stones around us began to shift yet again. I followed Chopper as he trotted lightly down the hall so that I wouldn't get left behind, but I noticed something important not a moment later.

"Oh, shit," I gasped as I saw the wall begin to close in on us as we made our way down the tunnel. The threat of being squished to a pulp gave my feet wings, and I found myself easily keeping pace with Chopper as we both tried desperately to reach the now visible room at the end of the passage, the light that beckoned us almost teasingly while the wall to our right came ever closer, its power unstoppable.

"Not good! Not good! Not good! NOT GOOD!" I huffed as I ran faster than I had ever thought possible, my feet pounding into the stones and the distance between the room and I shortening rapidly. I didn't even realize that I had pulled ahead of Chopper until I had erupted into the room, turning to look behind me and nearly being bowled over as the Yautja emerged from the crevice in a gigantic leap. Behind him, the wall slammed shut with a puff of ancient dust, and I coughed lightly as the stuff irritated my already sensitive throat.

Suddenly, a rapid series of clicks and rumbles came from behind me, and I turned back, my eyes going wide as I craned my neck up to see the gigantic figure that was currently facing Chopper, looking none-too-pleased. There was a whoosh of metal as his wristblades extended, and he began to advance upon me, shoving the smaller Yautja out of the way. I raised my spear in an automatic defensive gesture, which I suddenly remembered was not my spear but in all actuality Celtic's, and wished that I could melt into the wall behind me somehow.

"Uh, hello?" I said in a small squeak, eyes wide as the ornate mask glared down at me, the eye sensors seeming far too small for the creature behind them. Killing Xeno's was one thing, but I knew that I didn't have the talent to fight Celtic.

Especially since he had his plasma cannon, and the three red dots were aimed right at me.

* * *

_Well, I hope that fight was pretty realistic (wrings hands) I don't wanna be all-powerful... yet! (laughs manically)  
Yeah, as if..._


	6. Not Much Time

_Joy to all! Here's the new chap I know many of you have been waiting for (ego inflates to fill the room, pushing out all reader) Hey, where'd you go?  
Oh, well. Here's the chap... but before that;replies to questions and comments!_

_Bsdisaster: true, they are so very lethel in every movie, and it does give you that impression. Heh, I'll just keep on trying, and perhaps I won't get blown up in the process... perhaps._

_DarkXeno: Really? Well, I'll just have to watch it another few times and then scream in terror if I actually do see anyone even romotely like me running the the background (as in me running through the house like an idiot going 'Holy shit are they real?') Hehe, otherwise; thanks, and here's what happens next!_

_Butterflydragon: Wow, thanks for the uplifting review, and I hope that I can continue meeting your standards and perhaps changing your opinion about SI fics. I never normally liked them either, at first, but now I find that it's really fun to write them realistically, and being able to talk like one normally would is just a perk XD Yeah, I know exactly what I'd be saying, and most of it's in here... most. Some of it's too bad even for this rating.  
Nice to hear from another dragon fan out there :)_

_OtakusVengeance and Ranma Hibiki: Wow, I can spell you guys' names without having to look at my reviews now! (feels pride for some reason). Heh, anyway, Giving the spear back... hmmmm. Let me think... No speardeath, spearlife. What would I choose? Hah, that's just my logic, but getting the spear taken awayis a different story...  
Evil... (hisssss) (more insane laughter)

* * *

_

Can it really end like this? I asked myself as I stared into the unforgiving and cold gaze of the giant Yautja warrior. The mark upon the brow of his mask gleamed raggedly in the darkness, the darkness that was in fact not as dark as the one that I might soon be entering if he actually fired that damn gun. Where in all hell had he gotten it, anyway? I wasn't certain of exactly what humans had had them, but I was well aware that Chopper hadn't found his yet, and he had been hunting with Celtic for at least a full ten minutes before he had found me, after all.

A rapid and agitated series of clicks erupted from Chopper's position, and I felt a dim shadow of hope rise within me as the smaller Yautja seemed to be explaining the situation to the larger one. Celtic still didn't look impressed or happy, but the three red dots that had been hovering over my chest wavered and finally disappeared. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding, glaring up at the larger Yautja indignantly.

Suddenly, his hand darted out, and I wasn't fast enough to dodge as Celtic grabbed the spear, ripping it out of my grasp and snarling angrily as he investigated it, seeing the chips and lines where it had been hit by claws and rock. Chopper made a noise, but was immediately silenced by a barking roar from the larger and more intimidating individual.

"You know, I do need that to fight down here," I said conversationally with an only slightly trembling voice, annoyed and feeling more than a little snappish from the manner that this creature was regarding me in. I had _not_ just gone through all hell and beyond to stay alive in this place only to have this arrogant son of a bitch take away my only chance at survival!

Celtic growled at the reminder that I still lived, one arm snapping out and gripping me by the neck. I gasped as I was suddenly lifted into the air, unable to breathe all that well from my constricted throat. He hadn't even bothered to retract his wristblades; the edges gleamed threateningly uncomfortably near my head, and I could just see them if I craned my eyes over. Panic began to overtake me as I realized that I wasn't getting enough air, but I fought it down enough to continue my glare, even when it became apparent that Celtic wasn't going to put me down until he deemed he wanted to.

Angrily and desperately, I brought my hands up, curling my fingers into claws as I dug my overly long fingernails into the unprotected flesh of his arm, simultaneously kicking the Yautja as hard as I could in the stomach and ripping downwards with my hands. This movement created long, glowing gashes that were quite deep and seemed pretty painful, judging from the roar that almost deafened me as the grip on my neck loosened. I took the chance and kicked again, putting the power of both my feet into it as I jerked backwards, effectively freeing my neck from the almost iron grip.

I fell to the floor with a thud, wincing and cursing as my bruised body was again shaken by the impact. Celtic's roar still echoed in the room, and I flicked my hands with a disgusted look, watching as the fluorescent green fluid splattered on the floor. Hah, seemed like Mr. Arrogant had finally been taught a lesson about judging your opponents.

I staggered up and jumped back in case I would be attacked, looking at the Yautja warily as he investigated his arm. The ten deep furrows were welling up with his green blood, which was dripping to the floor at a rapid rate. I winced slightly in a semblance of sympathy, but he had deserved it. If he had just left me alone, instead of treating me like some unworthy prey, then maybe we might have both come out better. Indeed, my neck hurt more than the time that I had pulled it out, and I was wheezing slightly from the pressure that had been put on my windpipe. I brought one hand up to rub it gingerly, flicking off more of the green blood before I did so.

"You can't say you didn't deserve it," I rasped, a grin somehow rising to my lips as Celtic continued staring at his arm in what looked to be disbelief, my words lost upon him. I sighed slightly, waiting for the Yautja to come back to himself and hearing the curious sound of trilling coming from Chopper, who had been watching all of this happen silently from where he had been standing.

The sound served to snap Celtic back to reality with a vengeance, and the large Yautja roared angrily. Surprisingly, his anger wasn't directed at me, but at Chopper, who merely tilted his head and made more of those growling noises that I was sure were words of a sort, but I'd be damned if I could understand them. After a few moments of this, both became silent, and Celtic stared at me for a long moment before snorting dismissively, clipping his spear back on his belt and stalking towards the exit tunnel at the other side of the room that had apparently opened up right after Chopper and I had entered. I was about to say something, but sighed and gave it up; it was his spear, after all, and he had a right to take it back.

"Hell, what am I going to use as a weapon _now_?" I muttered to myself, looking over somewhat irritably as Chopper clicked to gain my attention, using a sweeping gesture to indicate that I was to follow him as he made to pursue Celtic. I sighed and trotted along, wondering belatedly how much muscle I was going to put on from this workout and if I would ever be the same at home if and when I got back. Yeah, that was leaning more towards 'if' at every passing moment that I didn't have the spear to help me.

_Ooh, another dark passage! What a surprise!_ I thought with a voice just dripping sarcasm, glad that my eyes could adjust well to the dark now that I had to survive in it. I had always told mom that it was more useful to be able to see in dark rooms than to be able to see in really bright ones, because dark places usually held more dangerous things that could kill you. Of course, I had always been joking, but now the joke had become a harsh reality.

Reality. Heh, just a few hours ago I had actually been sitting on the computer at home, cursing at reality because things like this _didn't_ happen. Now that they were happening, I felt a bit like a hypocrite for not liking it. It had, after all, been one of my biggest wishes to be in an adventure just like this one, so I had better start enjoying it while I could. Hell, if I got back, this would probably never happen again, and if I didn't get back, I would have to get used to this shit.

_So stop wining and start acting like the hero you always wanted to be_, I told myself firmly.

Three sets of footsteps echoed dully against the stone around us, giving the place a type of endless feel that was distinctly unnerving, and far too quiet for its own good. If I didn't know better, I'd think that something was about to happen. Well… just in case, I let my eyes lid over slightly, listening carefully.

Footsteps, the clink of armor, my breathing, the rattle of skulls, the skittering of many legs…

Wait a minute! The skittering of many legs!

I stopped; stock-still and wide-eyed as I looked all around, my throat suddenly gone dry as I realized that there was at least one Facehugger tailing us.

"Hey up there! Stop for a sec!" I whispered harshly, making Chopper turn curiously. Celtic hesitated slightly, but grunted and moved on, ignoring my words as if I was just a bother. I curled my lip, but didn't dwell on the idiot; there were bigger things to find, and my eyes searched the surroundings much as they had when I had been attacked before. All it needed to do was move once…

Chopper growled impatiently, and at the same moment I caught sight of the pale, spider-like form off to my left. Sensing that it had been found, the Facehugger leapt, its many legs propelling itself into the air with an amazing speed. My hand whipped upwards, too slow to stop the leap but just fast enough to bat the creature off course, making it bounce off my shoulder and plop to the floor. With a speed born of desperation I slammed my foot down on it, careful not to break the exoskeleton and make it bleed as I caught hold of the thrashing tail and rendered the thing pretty much helpless, although I couldn't move or it would be freed.

That was a problem, considering that there was another one currently flying at me.

"Yah!" I yelped, my arm holding the tail snapping up as fast as it could and the caught Facehugger flying through the air like some sort of demented living mace, smacking hard into the leaping one and knocking it aside. There was a crunch as Chopper used his own spear, a weapon that he had not used before to my knowledge, to impale the creature before it could gather itself for another leap. I couldn't pay much attention, though; because I had to keep the Facehugger I was holding from latching onto me.

It seemed that neither of the two Yautja had ever seen my unique way of dealing with the spiderlings, and even Celtic was regarding me curiously as I slammed the creature into whatever hard surface presented itself, namely the walls and floor, until the squeaking finally stopped altogether and the creature was a mess of broken limbs. With a final grunt I smashed it into the wall with as much strength as I could muster, wincing slightly at the sickening crunch and the sizzling of blood eating through the stone that I heard.

I dropped it as if it had suddenly become a burning brand, flexing my fingers to regain some semblance of flexibility in them, as I had been gripping the tail of the Facehugger hard enough to draw a few drops of red blood. The creature that plopped to the ground was very obviously dead, killed by pure desperation on my part. I hadn't even had a weapon this time.

Good thing they weren't as strong as a full-grown Xeno, else I'd have been pretty dead myself.

I turned back to the Yautja, my eyes half-closed as I listened. There was no sound but my ragged breathing; even the two warriors before me weren't moving, presumably because they were still absorbing the fact that I had killed another of the damn things. Geez, for being my favorite creatures, the Xeno's were really starting to get on my nerves right about now. I mean; I could only take so many times of being attacked before I just decided to hate the suckers and leave it at that.

Chopper made a sound of approval then, nodding slightly before retracting the spear he held and holding it out to me. I stared at it blankly, eyebrow rising up into my bangs as I contemplated why he would want to give me a weapon, especially since he had been so reluctant to give me Celtic's spear in the first room I had met him in. Finally, I took it, knowing that I would be better protected with it and also that it would be a very foolish idea to refuse this gesture that told me the other Yautja thought me worthy of using it. Frankly; I wasn't gonna argue with him. When it came to a fork between death and survival, I knew which one I'd take every time.

"Thanks," I said with a slow nod, running my fingers over the spear that was less ornate than that of Celtic's, but still amazingly detailed and perfectly balanced in my hands. I turned slowly as a growl came from the direction of the dead Facehugger, and saw that the larger Yautja was inspecting it. As I watched, he snapped off the only unbroken limb, turning towards me slowly. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what he was going to do.

Chopper rumbled something, and I lifted my head to look at him. He gestured to the mark on his mask, then at me, and suddenly I understood; Celtic had accepted me as a warrior –a surprising fact in itself-, and wished to mark me as one. I looked at the large Yautja skeptically, and then glanced down at my already marked hand and mulled the thought over in my mind. Well, if he really wanted to, I certainly wasn't about to try and stop him! Even though my mom would go through the roof… but I guess she might understand if she got the whole story. I knew mom would believe me, considering I had a very strict code of honor when it came to lying.

"Go ahead," I said with a sigh, looking up into the expressionless eye sensors of that ornate and imposing mask. Heh, I had always wanted a tattoo on my face, and I knew I was about to get one when the leg was brought up to my cheek. I flinched as the blood burned through my skin with excruciating pain, but as I had already gotten burned many times by the blood it was nothing new, and the process was over within seconds. Celtic growled approvingly and handed me the leg, which I took with a respectful nod and began draining on the wall beside me.

What I wouldn't have given for a mirror right then.

The atmosphere of the group changed slightly after that, as the rigid tenseness had begun to dissipate. I was surprised at how much I had actually been able to sense it, considering that I was horrible at the social game and could barely read any type of signal unless someone smacked me upside the head with it. The echo of our footsteps seemed less foreboding, and I began to have the vague hope that we would soon find the exit. The air was beginning to change, as well; the musty and stale smell that pervaded the rest of the pyramid was shot through with a clean and fresh snap of a circulating breeze.

With lifted spirits I began to hum the tune of one of my favorite songs, the melody twining and reverberating nicely in the enclosed hallway. The two Yautja ignored it, and I felt safe enough to hum louder as the harmony moved more into the song. After a few moments, it was as if I was in my own world; my head was bobbing with the music that I was humming and I was deep in thought. At the edges of my conscience I heard one of the two finally take notice and growl curiously, trying to imitate the sound, and a small chuckle warped the song slightly as I smiled.

And then both Chopper and Celtic's arm computers began beeping frantically, and my heart dropped down to my feet as I heard the sound. Both Yautja brought their arms up, looking at the message on the computers and growling in a surprised way before stiffening. Celtic took off immediately, and Chopper took the time to turn around and growl at me commandingly before he began to run as well.

"Shit," I said with a groan, taking off at a speed that I had never thought I'd reach again and keeping pace with the others easily. I knew; I _knew _what had happened.

And oh, I knew that there wasn't much time left…

* * *

_Ahhhh! A time limit! I ALWAYS DIED IN THOSE TYPE OF GAMES!_


	7. Biggest Bitch in the Valley

_Heh heh, hello again. Hope you guys are enjoying the 'chapter per day' scedule that I've set up.  
Replies:_

_Bsdisaster: Well, the time is NOW! Glad you like my methods... I always wondered why nobody in the movies ever tried it..._

_OtakusVengeance: Well, I like to make it a point to talk to everybody who like my stories! It's you readers that inspire me to continue writing, after all! Heh, and I swear, it is absoluely true thatI always die in those type of time limit games at least seven times before I get it right(sulks)_

_Ranma Hibiki: Keeping a Facehugger as a pet...? That would be awsome! To quote that nicely animated movie, Monsters Inc. "I always wanted a pet that could kill me!"_

_DarkXeno: Heeeey, now. One fact that I should probably not say but I will anyway is that I am extremely, EXTREMELY gullible, so don't torture me! I like your throey about Facehuggers, and you're probably right except for in the first movie it said that the legs were strong enough that the people couldn't get the facehugger off unless they wanted to rip the guys skin off with it, but that's probably a muscle locking factor and has nothing to do with strength... Chesburster Javalin, huh? How would that work, see how accurately you can kill a person at various distances? XD  
Never played that particular game, but I might take your suggestion on the opponents. That would be fun just to write a pure Melee one-shot XD  
Time trials... (shudders)_

_Butterflydragon: Yes, you are correct. I'm sure a scene with Lex and me talking would be quiet funny indeed... But no more spoilers for later! XP_

_Raptor-chick: Welcome back! Heh, I don't know what I'm gonna do with Scar quiet yet, still working on that detail... As far as I know, another Grid alien is not going to appear... but that's only as far as I know.  
I was obsessed with all sorts of monsters... heh, looked like all us dinosaur fans have a commen intrest here, too, eh? Oooh, Oviraptor! I was actually planning a bit of a Robert T. Bakker style story about a young Oviraptor male called Indigo Whorl, but that idea got put in the archives along with a few others to make way for my sci-fi stuff. Heh, a lot of your favorites are mine, too XD_

_Pervy-elf-fancier: whoa, almost missed you, there! Hehehee, Lex and Scar... they come in sooooooooooooon._

* * *

"Let's try not to get blown up, shall we?" I growled as I ran, talking more to myself than the two Yautja that were taking the many passages and turns with a certainty that was surprising, considering that they had been taking their time to investigate things before. I guess they hadn't been in as much of a hurry to get out of this place as I had been, probably because they wanted to make sure every Xeno was dead before they left. It was a smart thing to do, but I already knew that every Xeno would be dead pretty soon anyway.

Suddenly, we erupted out into clear air, and I saw the exit of the pyramid before us. It was like some sort of glorious, glorious sight that made hope just bubble up within me. I was going to get out of here! I laughed with glee as I ran, just happy to be alive in that single moment that gave me more satisfaction than my entire life had before.

"Hey, who are you?"

I glanced back at the question, and gaped as I saw Lex, the main heroine of the movie that I loved so much, running parallel to me. The Predator known as Scar ran beside her, growling to the other Yautja, who were clicking and rumbling in return as they ran. Hell, it was just a big ass reunion here, wasn't it? I grinned slightly and tried to concentrate on keeping my feet on a straight course. I could see how confused she was, judging from the shocked look on her face and the unrecognizing eyes. She was probably wondering why she had never seen me before, and I wasn't about to tell her the reason.

"You know, I really don't think now's the time for introductions," I replied, "Let's just get the hell outta here before we get blown up!"

"Fine by me," she agreed, and I nodded as we ran down the steps. I nearly tripped several times, and I wasn't making all that fast a time; steps were my worst enemy in this dimension as well, it seemed. But somehow I made it to the bottom without breaking a leg, though the others were pretty far ahead of me by then and I upped my speed to almost breakneck to keep up with them, breath coming out in short gasps of foggy vapor. Chopper slowed slightly, looking back, and then let out a roar of alarm as I was knocked to the ground by a Xeno that I had never seen coming. I cursed, knowing that I should have been on the lookout for the things that I had known were going to appear down here.

"Get off me you bastard!" I screamed, twisting and jabbing my spear up futilely as I tried to wriggle out of the creature's grip. It screeched and I felt an agonizing pain shoot up my arm as the tail sliced through the skin, but it was a glancing blow and I retained control of the extremity. Still, the next blow was sure to be more accurate, and I couldn't fight effectively from this position at all.

Not like I had time to fight.

Suddenly, the weight was gone, and I lurched upright in time to see the Xeno get beheaded by Chopper's shruiken. Bright green blood flew in all directions, and I yelped as some of it landed on my coat, ruining more of the soft synthetic leather material. Chopper turned to me with a strangled bark of command, and I began running once more, glad that the wounds on my legs weren't too bad. Otherwise this would have been very difficult, especially since I could see the others already at the lift panel up ahead. A few dead Xeno's nearby and a discarded gun told me that another movie event had just occurred right on schedule, and that the lift would start moving right about…

Now! I leapt forward at the same moment as the others, grabbing the bar on the back of the lift as Lex, Scar and Celtic managed to squeeze onto the platform part of it. Chopper latched on next to me, and suddenly we were moving at a breakneck speed, the intense and mind-numbing cold of the ice below me burning on my limbs as I slid. All I could think was how incredibly thankful I was that the passage was smooth, otherwise sliding up the tunnel at somewhere between sixty and ninety miles and hour might have been a little uncomfortable.

Yeah, like it wasn't already pretty damn uncomfortable.

I grit my teeth as my hands began to give, the cold of the bar numbing my fingers so that I couldn't keep a good grip even if I had wanted to. My arm was rippling with pain; I could literally feel the muscle tearing as I struggled to lock my hold. I didn't want to let go, not when I was so close already…

_So close…_

Ultimately, I failed, and I cried out in dismay as my hands slipped off the bar, that one moment seeming as if time had stopped completely as I heard the echoing blast of the bomb erupting behind me with the force of who knows how many destructive things. My eyes closed as I finally accepted my fate; I was no warrior, no person cut out to be a hero. I had failed to survive… I had just plain failed, when it came down to it.

But at least I had changed the events a bit, and as long as that was true then I had left my mark on my favorite world. At least that was something to be proud of; I had changed the course of events.

Now I would die.

Suddenly, some force jerked me forwards once more, and I looked up in surprise as I saw that Chopper had used his melted wristblades to hook my coat –that blessed, blessed coat- and keep me moving with the lift. I wouldn't die after all!

I didn't have much time to celebrate, considering that the lift was abruptly flying through the cold, dark air of the outside world. Instead, I screamed as I was reminded quite unexpectedly of my trip into this world and exactly how terrifying falling was. In a few moments I was flung into a large bank of snow that, thankfully, had nothing sharp or solid hidden under it, my wits scattered but enough coherency left in my mind to give me one clear goal; one word that dictated all I could do at the moment.

_RUN!_

And so I staggered up and ran, my feet flying over the snow as I looked in all directions for those that had been flung into the air alongside me. A few dozen yards away I caught glimpses of Scar and Lex running just as desperately as I was, and further ahead there was Celtic, but where was Chopper?

With a cry of alarm I slowed, looking back at the fire that was rapidly approaching and cheering on the lone figure that was running as fast as he possibly could towards me. I wasn't going to leave him to face that explosion alone, no, not after he had saved me from falling back down that ice tunnel! I owed him big time, and I _always_ repaid my debts, apparently even if I had to risk my life to do so. In moments he had caught up, and I began running once more, legs flying over the thick drifts at a speed that I had only ever dreamed that I could achieve as the sweltering heat of the explosion pressed against my back, only making me want to move faster.

Suddenly, the shockwave passed over us, and I was shoved to the ground as if by a gigantic hand as the force of the explosion rippled past me, destroying buildings all around as it went. I staggered up one more, ignoring the pain in both my arms and legs and the gasping shortness of breath that I was suffering from as I began to run yet again, sensing that Chopper was doing the same just behind me.

I cursed under my breath as the ground below began to give way, making the already uneasy footing even more precarious than it was as large sections of the snow and ice began to fall away into the deep abyss below. If things weren't difficult enough! Now I knew how people felt when they were stuck in an earthquake, because I was pretty sure that having the ground shake like this could be considered fairly close to earthquake situations. As it was, I nearly lost my balance when a huge column of ice jerked upwards under my feet, causing me to step forward prematurely and stumble, my momentum taking me farther than my stride had accounted for.

But I had pretty good balance, and I managed to save myself from another fall and lurch forward at a pace that I wasn't sure I could stop if I wanted to. I glanced back quickly to see if Chopper was keeping up, and a small part of me was relieved to see that yes, he indeed was keeping up with my crazed speed. I looked forward once more, and the sight that greeted me would have made me stop if I had been able to safely.

"That sucks," I huffed angrily, the ice only a few yards before me beginning to fall away from the solid and unaffected ground, creating an ever-widening chasm that I wasn't sure I could leap across. I could feel the surface under my feet beginning to angle slightly as it fell away, and I put on a final burst of speed that brought me to the edge, leaping with all my might put into that downward thrust of my legs.

There was a strange moment of weightlessness, and for a single flickering instant it was as if I could fly like I had always dreamed before gravity pulled me back into its clutches, bringing the ice towards me with the cruel promise of a hard impact. I strained my arms as I reached for it, seeing that there would be a close shave from me falling into the abyss or me landing on the ledge. Neither option looked pleasant, but at least I would survive getting flattened on the ice.

The breath was knocked out of me as I hit the edge of the ice, my fingernails digging into the cold and unforgiving snow desperately as I pulled myself up. I felt the dull thud as Chopper landed on his feet a few yards away, and I cursed him and his amazing leaping powers. My hands were freezing by the time I was able to stand up, which was barely a few seconds after I had impacted on the ledge but seemed like a few hours, and I was about to shove them into my pocket when I noticed that I was still tightly gripping Chopper's spear. I gaped at the weapon blankly, wondering how in the world I had been able to keep hold of it after all I had been through.

I must have been even more stubborn that I had thought.

Suddenly, there was a roar, and I looked over in time to see yet another movie event unfurl as Scar, his mask removed and mandibles flaring, attempted to intimidate Lex. The girl stood her ground, and I nodded approvingly; I had always loved that part of the movie. After a few seconds of regard, Scar brought out a Xeno claw and, upon Lex's approval, traced the warrior's mark upon her cheek. I grinned and began making my way over, Chopper following at my gesture.

Suddenly, there was an eruption of snow and a screech of primal anger, and I groaned and smacked my hand to my head. Of all the things to forget about a movie, this was the worst! How _stupid_ could I possibly be! Instantly, Chopper ran to the other Yautja, who attempted to circle the gigantic screaming black demon that was the Xeno Queen, and I moved to stand beside the newly scarred Lex, my spear held at the ready. I looked at her and grinned slightly, seeing her face illuminated eerily by the flash of a plasma cannon as she stared back with wide eyes.

"So," I said challengingly, "How about we help take down the biggest bitch in the valley?"

* * *

_Indeed... wonder how that's gonna turn out... (auther sees herself flying into oblivion for no reason) O-kay..._


	8. Plan On It

_I HOPE this is a better chapter... I'm reallynot proud of the last one and wish I could've found a way to make it better, even after the six times I went over it..._

_Raptor-Chick: hmmm... are you getting the chapters a day late? Or maybe you just want to review for every one... either way it doesn't matter, I appreciate your comments highly! I have read your story, and I am very eagerly awaiting the sequel or next chapters, whichever one you happen to put up first. You are sooo good at your writing...XD You have Nails of Death? Awsome, there IS another pserson like me in the world!_

_Ranma Hibiki: Pets!(i'm actually trying to get my mom to let me have a hermit crab...)  
You're right, that would've been hilarious! A pity I didn't think of it in time... sigh.  
Army of Pudding Heads? Haha! They have to get past my FLOCK OF INSANE PINK CHICKEN FEATHERS!_

_Butterflydragon: Yeah, Bakker wrote 'Raptor Red', the novel about a few years in the life of a female Utahraptor. Heh, it's one of my favorite books, right up there with 'Song in the Silence'.  
Anyway,thanks and here's the next chapter. I hope you like!_

_DarkXeno: heh, just in time, man! It's perfectly alright that you tried a joke on me... it's my fault that I couldn't get it XD It would be hilarious, too... Maybe I should upload my photomanipulations that actually put me into that movie? (got a cool one of me grabbing a Facehugger) You're right, on the movie thing. It's been a while since I've seen that one.  
I'll think about your suggestion for my fic, but I think that may be impossible for the situation right at the current moment. Perhaps in the sequel?  
Okay, the Grid alien is, at first, just a normal, average drone that happens to be a tad smarter than the others. It's the one that, in the movie, kills both Celtic and Chopper. Because of the net that cut into it's carapace, creating a grid like pattern, it is thus called the 'Grid Alien'.  
_

_Bsdisaster: Yeah... too fast-paced. (sigh) I keep thinking that I may want to redo it...  
Hope this one is slightly better!  
(has anyone else noticed that theseAuthor's Noteskeep getting longer and longer...?)_

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"What! But-"

"Hey, do you really think they can take it down alone?" I interrupted, gesturing to the three Yautja that were already engaged in battle with the Queen. Her bone-like tail thrashed, taking all of them off their feet for a moment before they scrambled up and regrouped. The Queen stomped towards Scar with menacing promise, but was suddenly distracted by a direct shot by Celtic's plasma cannon, which punched a hole in her side that spurted out a large amount of green blood, melting deep pits into the snow and ice all around as her pained screeched echoed through the air, "Come on, I know you have it in you, Lex."

"How do you know my name!" she demanded, her face contorted by several different emotions -confused would bea major understatement, there-. Inwardly I laughed, because I had very literally turned into the mysterious figure that I loved so much in every story. In fact, I almost laughed out loud becuase of the look on her face, but held it back only with great effort.A roar brought me back to reality, and my head snapped over as the Xeno Queen charged at Celtic, using her crest to throw the gigantic Yautja into the air. The only reason he wasn't impaled by her tail was because Scar had run it through with his own spear, distracting the huge beast enough to make her turn her attention from the flying figure. I winced as he hit the ground with a sickening thud that was audible even at the distance I was at.

"Doesn't matter," I answered distractedly, brandishing my spear and trotting forward a few steps with the elation of death-defying insanity beginning to take hold of me. I looked back at the woman, noting her indecisive posture and her blank look, "You coming or what?"

"I promised Sebastian that I wouldn't let them reach the surface, and I'm not going to go back on that now," she answered defiantly after a small pause, her own weapons clutched determinedly in her hands. I grinned widely in approval.

"Thatta girl!" I said, "Now come on before one of them gets killed!"

I ran, not waiting for Lex but knowing that she would catch up. Somehow, I did not want to miss out on being a part of this battle, the most important scene in the whole movie. I had learned how to fight on this trip, however reluctantly and uniquely, and now was the time to put my meager talents to the test.

Yeah, I think I might have snapped somewhere between running for my life and getting blown up.

The Queen thrashed and swung her tail viciously, throwing all of the Yautja from her again as she whirled, screeching, towards us. I slowed slightly as I realized that she knew where we were, knew what we were up to. Her gigantic feet took a single step, chains clinking against her exoskeleton, before she had lurched into an all out run, striding forwards at a speed and ferocity that reminded me all too much of the Tyrannosaurus on Jurassic Park. I heard Lex yell behind me, and glanced back to see her whirl and run towards a place that looked like a whale graveyard. I knew what would happen now, but I decided not to run after her. Instead, I took an insane chance and ran directly towards the Queen, sidestepping her quickly snapping jaws.

It seemed that the Xeno bitch hadn't been expecting her prey to run _towards _her. Score one for the humans!

"Take _that_ you dumb bitch!" I yelled, slamming my spear into the rapidly moving leg of the Queen. I was knocked backwards as the shaft lifted up towards me, hitting me lengthwise in the chest and ripping out of the wound I had caused with a spray of caustic blood. I grit my teeth and promptly threw off my coat -my favorite coat- that had finally been ruined completely by my jaunt through this dimension. The cold of the artic air immediately hit me like a brick, making me gasp and shiver uncontrollably as I scrambled up, my fingers burning from the blood covered spear as I tapped it against the ground in an effort to clean off the ickor.

I turned to find that the Queen had kept going, chasing after her moving prey. The sharp crunch of dozens of whale bones being snapped and broken, coupled with the dust I saw rising near the 'graveyard' showed me where the Queen was headed, and I saw the black creature impact with the water tower a moment later, the harsh clang resounding through the air at the same time as Lex's scream. I growled, running towards the conflict as fast as I was able while jumping over fallen bones that seemed more like trees than bones.

The flash of Celtic's plasma cannon told me that the largest Yautja had joined the struggle, and I upped the pace. I was _so_ not gonna be left out of this, especially since I needed to make sure that damn thing died!

I jumped over one last bone, skidding to a stop as I saw the scene that presented itself to me. The Queen was currently struggling with the spear that had been slammed into the side of her head, screeching and flailing as she attempted to remove the seemingly painful object stuck in her skull. Scar, Lex, and Chopper were working together to tie off the chain that was still attached to the thrashing creature, and Celtic was working to keep the Xeno distracted by repeatedly hitting it with his plasma cannon.

"Oh, that's not going to work," I whispered as I saw the group try to push the water tower off the ledge into the ocean just as the Queen snapped the spear in half, sending the weapon flying off into the sky to embed into the ice not three yards from where I was standing. I hurriedly grabbed it as I heard the water tower groan to a stop, the dismayed cry of Lex echoing through the air as she tried to get the stuck bolt to snap off and free the tower to fall into the ocean.

Suddenly, the Queen whirled and managed to catch Celtic off guard, her tail smashing into his midsection and lifting him into the air as easily as if he weighed no more than a feather. He was thrown back to slam into the tower, the resonant clash of his impact reverberating in the sharp air. The Queen screeched in triumph, approaching the three who were still trying to get the bolt to break, and I dashed forward to stop her without thinking.

The broken spear I held was used to impale the Queen's other leg, turning the beast's attention to me instead of the others. I suddenly found myself attacked from all angles as the tail whipped around and the two pairs of clawed arms reached out to grab me. I hissed in defiance as I ducked, feeling the wind from the near miss pass over me, ruffling my barred hair slightly. I would need to take the tail out of commission if I seriously expected to win this fight!

Okay, okay, fine. I wasn't fooling myself. I needed that tail out of commission if I wanted to _survive_ this fight. I wasn't fast enough to dodge all the strikes, and I'd probably be deader than a doornail if even one hit its mark.

I jumped backwards, almost losing my balance in the snow that was both shifting under me and flying up to obscure my vision, and brought up my spear forward to deflect one of the Xeno's skinny arms, both hands gripping the weapon as the Queen bore down on me with all her weight behind her charge. Suddenly, I was flying in the air, an unexpected feeling of weightlessness overtaking me before I felt the pull of cursed, cursed gravity once more. I landed hard against a column of frozen bone, gasping at the sudden pain as I fell the remaining few feet to the ice, crumpling on impact. My eyes watered as I attempted to stand, my feet barely moving at my commands from the agony that coursed through me.

"That fucking bitch," I managed to spit out, struggling painfully to a standing position and leaning against the bone with one hand, the spear clutched tightly in the other while I grit my teeth and wondered if I would be able to walk. I took one shuddering step and yelped as I collapsed yet again to the ice as a hot, shooting pain flared up against my back and sides.

With a tired sigh I realized that I was out of the fight. Unless by some miracle I could find the willpower to force myself to move, I wasn't going to be going anywhere for a long while.

Something wet hit the exposed scar on my hand, freezing instantly in the cold artic air, and I looked down at the limb curiously, suddenly noticing the intense cold on my face. I brought my fingers up, feeling with slight surprise the tears dripping out of my eyes at the realization that I couldn't help, that I wasn't _strong_ enough to help. The dim but certain knowledge that I didn't deserve the mark on my face or the 'trophies' in the pocket of my coat, so far away and buried in the ice now where I had left it.

I was just some kid from reality stuck in a place where she really didn't belong, and never should have come to.

"I should've stuck to writing my stories," I whispered brokenly, staring at the slight coating of ice on my numb fingers, feeling the cold begin to seep into my bones dangerously, but not caring. If I died here… oh, well. A lot of humans had died here, and most of them had been more worthy than I of life. What was I, anyway? I was a nobody, a dreamer. Yeah, just a foolish dreamer with no real ideas or accomplishments to my name. I might've had a chance, once, but that was gone now.

A roar of anger made me lift my tired eyes to the fight, and I rose an eyebrow to see that Celtic had managed to run straight back into the fray. Man, that guy had spirit, even if he didn't have the brains to match it. Chopper joined him in confusing the Queen, striking at the Xeno alternately to keep her unsure as to what target she should attack first. I nodding approvingly, they knew what they were doing. But why hadn't the bolt come out yet? In the movie, it had snapped pretty easily… what was wrong?

I turned my eyes to Lex and Scar, who were both working on not one, but a dozen bolts that hadn't come out! I winced as I realized that some small portion of the changed events caused by my arrival had changed this as well, making it harder to defeat the Queen that should already be in her watery prison. In a way, I had made this happen and I was responsible for the torture that all of them were being put through.

I wanted to help, but what could I possibly do?

I grit my teeth and struggled upright as much as I was able, my knees threatening to give out on me as the pain flared up once more, instantly bringing the feeling back to all my numb limbs with an excruciating yet slightly helpful vengeance. With a grunt I slammed the end of the spear into the ice, using the long weapon as a crutch to keep me going. My concentration was on a single goal; I wanted to get to the others and help remove the bolts. I had my spear -well, Chopper's spear- and I was pretty sure I had enough strength left in me to lever out a few of those damn things with it.

The pain was bad -oh, it was bad- but after struggling for a while I began to get used to it, to expect that flare of agony at every step. I started to move quicker, though still I was shuffling, and my strides became longer and surer. In a few long moments my shuffling gait had turned into a limping run, and soon I charged in and attacked the bolts as Lex and Scar were already doing with whatever they could find to break them with. They had already managed to remove a fair amount of the things, no thanks to me, and now there was only three left. One for each of us.

I almost laughed, if I hadn't hurt so much and the situation hadn't been so dire.

I hauled downwards on the spear, screaming in both pain and pure exaltation that it might be over soon, that this nightmare was almost through. With a sudden clink it broke, and I fell to the ground hard from the sudden absence of resistance. Two more clinks reached my ears, and I looked up quickly and cheered in triumph when I saw that the water tower had nothing left holding it to the ground, that already it was groaning and tipping towards the watery abyss that would become the Queen's final resting place.

Suddenly, the chain pulled taut, and the Queen lurched forward with all her might, pulling the entire tower forward as she leapt to snap at Chopper, who had jumped back just out of reach of that second pair of snapping jaws. I gaped as our one hope at killing the creature toppled along with the tower, which cracked upon impact with the ice, a small spray of water spurting out before freezing in the chill air and sealing the hole.

"Why does life hate me?" I asked no one in particular, everything else forgotten as the Queen screeched mightily, gracefully turning and staring at the three of us with that eyeless head, silver teeth dripping with saliva.

I thought I had looked into the face of death when I had slipped in the ice tunnel, falling back towards an explosion that was bigger than anything I could imagine. Turns out either I was wrong, or this was worse than death. I shuddered involuntarily as I saw into that cold, calculating mind, that pure will to survive and kill that was worse than any mind I had ever been able to see into before. She knew she had us, she knew she could kill us without dying herself.

And she planned on it.

* * *

_Well, was anyone not expecting that? I know I wasn't!_


	9. I Refuse

_Hello there! Obscenely short chapter, but I had to cut it off short or else It'd be kinda... bland._

_Bsdisaster: no, they never do work out like they should... at least for me they don't XD_

_RaptorChick: Yup, read it, loved it, am currently trying to find it somewhere. I got it from the library when I read it...  
Here's hoping the outcome of the fight is good..._

_DarkXeno: Yes, yes, I KNOW! (screams and runs around like a headless chicken) Gah! The obly reason I'm pausing that one is becuase I have another, different fic that I'm co-writing with someone that my part was actually due about a week ago, and I need to drop everything and get THAT finished and patch up what I'm sure are a few frayed nerves on my co-writers part before I can start writing the rest of the eleventh chapter of EoaPS. But as it's about halfway finished,I don't think that'll take very long. Maybe another week... if I'm lazy with the co-writer stuff._

_Ranma Hibiki: Well, in the movie, the Queen was able to withstand several neck hits, a direct hit to the head, several puncture wounds to vital areas, and a few deep slashes with the sruikens. I just gathered that the Queen was a tough ass bitch and wouldn't be bothered much by a leg wound, even if a sucessful -albeit almost impossible- breakage of the leg would result in a nicely crippled creature.  
Fan Girls? I wouldn't be afraid of them, 'cause I'm female too! Now bees... get an army of bees and I'll be running for the hills..._

_ButterflyDragon: Thanks for the heads up! We'll miss ya, but I'm sure you will have a lot to read when you get back XD Glad I could help you find the title._

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_

_There has to be a way! There's_ **always** _a way!_ My mind screamed at me as the Queen advanced, shrugging off plasma blasts as if they were nothing while she determinedly strode forward. Within an instant Chopper had charged into the conflict, leaping past the thrashing tail to slash at the leg that I had injured in an effort to cripple the huge beast, but she oriented on him and her tail caught him across the middle. He flew back with a roar of pain, older wounds ripping open with a spray of neon blood as the bony projections on the tail slashed across the damaged skin.

"Oh, you did _not_ just do that," I growled angrily, mind racing as I looked for something that would help. The water tower idea had gone down the drain, and I was pretty blank; why had this not happened like it had in the movie! That would have been so much easier than this! My head snapped over at a sharp growl and I saw Scar run into the fray, taking the place of Chopper and distracting the Queen from the two humans that were standing like idiots right out in the open.

"What does it take to kill these things?" Lex gasped, watching as yet another blast caught the Queen in the side, yielding more blood and serving to turn the creature again. I straightened with a small gasp of pain, putting my spear into the snow to balance better and shaking my head.

"No idea, I just usually hit 'em until they die," I replied, "But this damn bitch is tougher than the others. The water tower would'a done it, but that plan didn't go down as well as I might've hoped…"

"Is there a way we could lure it off the edge somehow?" she suggested. I grunted in reply, my gaze roving over the surroundings as my racing mind ran faster than it had ever done in my life. Suddenly, my eyes widened slightly as the solution became clear to me. I looked at the water tower that had fallen a few yards away, which was currently groaning in a very foreboding manner as the Queen attempted to free herself from the clutches of the tied-off chain and the weight that restricted her mobility, and then at the fight. Lex looked at me as I nodded slowly.

"Oh, god, there could be," I whispered, throat closing slightly as I choked on the words that ultimately left me one option.

Well, if this was the way it had to be, then this was the way it had to be. I was the only logical choice for this, anyway; I couldn't run anymore, not with my back the way it was. Hell, I was already half-dead from the cold, and having anyone else do this would be wrong, as it was my idea. I looked at Lex with my face set into a determined mask of confidence, hiding my pure terror behind it as I gripped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Listen to me closely, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady as I looked into her eyes, "Get the others to run, okay. Make sure they do…"

Then, I outlined the plan to her, seeing her eyes widen in horror much as mine had when I had thought of it. I could tell she was about to protest, but I stopped her with a hard slap on her back, pushing her forward and away from me as I lifted my spear and staggered slightly from the sudden absence of any support. My gut was roiling, and my eyes were again glistening with tears as I fought down the urge to run from this whole situation. What was I thinking? What in all hell was I _thinking_?

"Get going!" I yelled brokenly, backing up as I struggled with something on the tower before clearing my mind of all other thoughts and looking directly at the Queen, my eyes daring the creature to notice me. Almost as if she sensed my gaze the gigantic Xeno paused in her thrashing and fighting, that crested head rising to regard me with a feral snarl before she stepped forward. With a grin that was more for show than anything, I hauled back on the chain that I held -the chain that I had untied from the water tower- giving the Queen a slight tug that didn't move her at all, but served very well to anger her. I could almost hear her thoughts, her indignant growl that practically dared me to try it again.

I couldn't help but think 'Am I actually doing this? _Why_ am I doing this?'

Well, I had always wanted to be a hero…

"Come on, you ugly ass bitch!" I taunted, hauling harder on the chain and moving the Queen slightly as her screech of fury rippled through the artic air. Somewhat near her I could see Lex trying her best to get the Yautja to leave, though she wasn't very successful at it. There was a sudden blue glow as another burst of energy came from Celtic's plasma cannon, but the Queen ducked easily, all her attention riveted on me and me alone as I walked slowly backwards, pulling on the chain at intervals and laughing manically at my own idiocy.

The Queen followed slowly, her movements slow and very, very deliberate. She wasn't very happy at all, I could see it in the menacing snarl and the arch of her back as her tail thrashed behind her. In a way, she seemed undecided about what the best way to kill me would be; her talons flexed and flashed under the cold artic moon as she opened her mouth, second jaw trembling in anticipation. I stumbled slightly as a jolt of pain flared up from my back, hissing through my teeth as I struggled to stay upright and keep the creature's attention on the intricate dance of wills, but already the spell was broken.

With an enraged screech the Queen lurched forwards, thick black legs pounding into the snow and sending it flying behind her as I turned and jumped painfully into the sheltered space by the fallen water tower, hoping desperately that my crazy, half-thought-out plan would succeed. The Queen's crested head slammed into it with another resounding crash, second mouth flying out and teeth snapping as she tried to reach me. Already, though, I was moving towards the other end of the thing, mind on my goal as the Queen again smashed her head into the metal, unaware that I had escaped from her immediate clutches and was trying to get the relatively thin layer of ice off the crack in the metal with my spear.

Her cry of anger told me that I had run out of time, and I closed my eyes in regret as I breathed out slowly, my spear slamming into the flimsy metal of the tower with a sound much like aluminum foil ripping. It was as if someone else was moving my limbs as I used both hands to rip downwards in a jagged slash that gushed freezing liquid over my hands, cutting off all sensation from the extremities in a matter of seconds.

The Queen paused in her rampage as a loud scream of tortured metal cut through the air, and there was an instant of complete and utter silence that stretched into eternity and beyond before the tower literally exploded, sending a torrent of unstoppable freezing liquid gushing out, taking the Xeno off her feet and sending her straight towards her watery doom below.

I screamed as I was lifted from my place as easily as if I had been made of air, my legs and arms thrashing in the current that I couldn't even feel anymore. I was amazed at how numb I felt, and not just from the cold, either. I felt no fear, no terror… no emotion at all. My mind was filled with nothing but a bleak, almost sad resignation of my fate, the fate that could not be avoided this time around. I could almost have felt amused, if I had been feeling anything at the moment.

Suddenly, my feet hit something solid, and I was slammed up against the crested skull of the Xeno Queen, who had somehow managed to get a grip on the ice and snow that was rapidly melting under her clawtips, but was still solid enough for her to prevent herself from falling into the abyss. I growled as I caught one of the blunt tines with my numb fingers, the sound nothing but raw emotion, and knew that my job wasn't over yet.

"I'm not going down without taking you with me," I snarled, raising the spear in my hands and bringing it down as hard as I could right into the frontal skull of the Queen, burying the weapon up to the grip and hauling back on it for good measure. The crested head suddenly came up with a scream of pain and rage, second mouth flying out much as it had done with the red striped creature before the Queen lost her precarious grip on the ice, falling back as the last of the water pushed her over the edge and into the empty air beyond.

I fell with her, somehow managing to rip the spear back out of her head before I lost my balance and fell away, arms spread like wings as I looked down at the rapidly approaching water below. Damn, it was a long way down, but as I was no longer feeling fear at the moment I just stared at it blankly, small images of my life playing before my eyes as I contemplated death.

I realized that I really hadn't done much in my life. Well, not that I had had much of a chance to, yet; I was only seventeen, after all, but I hadn't really _lived_ in all my life besides this one, glorious day that I had spent in this dimension that had already taught me so much. Too bad I wouldn't be able to use that teaching, though; but oh, well, I'd had a good run.

Or had I? I mentally slapped myself in the face as my numb mind sped up a little. Was I really going to give up now? I mean, since when was I not stubborn in the face of everything, from my mom to a pack of Yautja warriors?

I had a reputation to uphold, here!

"I refuse to die," I whispered determinedly, my eyes lifting and watering from the ever-cold air that was blowing past me, "I refuse to die!"

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_Yes, but can refusal really work? _


	10. That Has Been Said

_Great to hear all your reviews, and I have a longer chapter for youthis time! (gasp)_

_Ranma Hibiki: NO BEES! (runs off screaming, but comes back with chapter offering) See? Chapter good! Chapter good!  
Yeah, somethimes I do go into some pretty dramatic scenes... meh._

_Genome Soldier and OtakusVengeance: Thank you both, and yup, power to all those authors out there! Thankyouthankyouthankyou._

_DarkXeno: no need for apologies, I'm sure I would do the same thing in your position. Deja Vu, huh? ... I don't have that line in another story, do I? (runs off to look) well, I don't think so... Hehe.Yeah, I'm aware of the easy way, but that would involve getting close enough to slash off the head of the Queen without getting impaled XD Possible, but not easy unless you happen to be the Newborn.  
I just looked up a pic and saw that the Queen _**does**_ have high-heel feet XD That's so... well, in a way it's awsome O.o  
Mornin' to you too! Xeno's sleepwalking? Hmmm... that would make for a funny scene, if anything, though it depends on if the ones that aren't 'different' sleep or not..._

_RaptorChick: Story's not over yet! You're seventeen, too? Heh, that's cool! Teenagers of the world unite in their obsessed fandom! Take over the earth!  
I have tried finding it in used bookstores, but its always out. I'll get it eventually, though. To answer your question, there should be about two more chapters left in this... maybe three if I get a big ending inspiration scene. Meeting the elder is possible, but I'm not saying quite yet._

_Bsdisaster: very poetic, and pretty true as well. The Xeno's and Yautja have no perceived fear of losing their lifes, and so have nothing to lose. If humans had that... well, I can't say I do, 'cause I, for one, am absolutely terrified of the concept of death... blarg.  
Very insightful review, you must be in a philosophical mood today! Thanks a bunch._

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_Third Person POV:_

Lex cried out and stepped futilely towards the conflict behind her as the water tower exploded in a spray of frozen liquid, obscuring the view of the entire scene that she had been watching so fearfully as she had tried to get the hunters to move away from the battle. One hand came up slightly as tears began to form on her face, dripping down only a few millimeters before freezing solid on her weathered cheeks. She thought of the girl, the one that she had never seen before but had somehow appeared here and fought with a ferocity that Lex had only seen in the hunters that stood beside her. The one that had somehow known her name…

She had been so young… why hadn't Lex refused to do as she asked? Why had she gone along with that insane plan?

One of the hunters standing nearby roared angrily, and Lex shrank back fearfully as the creature tried to run towards the watery explosion. The unfamiliar creature only stopped because of the threatening bark of the largest and most intimidating hunter, which put a firm hand on its shoulder. This scene was interesting to the human, but her eyes were driven inexorably back towards the now barren ice, the place where there had once been both terror and a very brave individual.

With a sigh, she began walking towards that place, ignoring the curious growl of her own hunter ally. She had already had more than enough of them; they had brought the serpents to this place, and because of them so many who hadn't deserved it had died under the ice! Lex was too burnt out to feel any anger, though; besides, Sebastian had told her that the hunters had been doing this for hundreds of years, and they probably didn't even know that what they had done was a terrible thing. Humans were like cattle to them, easily replaceable and useful only for the hunt.

She knew that her own species were really no better when it came down to it.

The snow under her boots slowly became slick and slippery, and her feet began to slide slightly as she made her way towards the scene of the final struggle. Lex was expecting this, though, and seven seasons on the ice made this type of thing pretty standard. The woman merely adjusted her balance accordingly and continued on, her course taking her straight towards the cliff edge, where the world seemed to drop away into a dark pit. This was where the two had fallen, and a small part of her feared the worst, feared that when she looked below she would find herself face to face with that monstrosity that had nearly killed them all.

Lex jumped at the growl of the hunter that was now standing beside her. Looking up into that plain mask that told her that this hunter was the one she had known, she suddenly felt slightly reassured even despite her earlier disgust. This creature wouldn't harm her or allow the others to; it had accepted her and they had gone through far too much together to want to kill one another now, when there was no reason for conflict. Behind it came the two other hunters, their expressionless masks set as they waited tensely. Lex nodded slightly as she understood; they wanted her to look over the ledge and see what was below.

She did so, wondering if they were allowing her to do this as a sign of acceptance or merely because of the fact that she had been the one to approach this place first. Her eyes strained as she attempted to see into the darkness, and she sighed as she noted the recently broken ice covering the ocean below. The Queen serpent was gone for good, and the strange girl, the one that Lex suddenly realized hadn't even given her name, was nowhere to be found.

It was over.

Lex turned away, heart heavy with regret and guilt from not just the girl that had given her life, but the dozens of others that had perished two thousand feet under the ice, never to see their families or loved ones again. She was the only survivor, the only one left from that mission. She had failed her job, she had told them that she would keep them alive on the ice, but she hadn't been prepared at all for what was there.

She had closed her eyes in a silent homage to those that had died when a slight, almost unnoticeable sound made her turn back and look over the edge curiously once again, a tiny fluttering of hope rising up in her as she looked down, straining her eyes to their limits. Suddenly, she saw what she was looking for, and she gave a strangled gasp that was half laugh, half cry of surprise.

Seeing her reaction, the other hunters gazed down into the abyss, their frantic clicks and growls signaling their surprise at the figure far, far below. Without a thought Lex began to unhook the meager yet possibly lifesaving gear that was on her belt, hurriedly attaching it to whatever solid surface presented itself first before attempting this rescue mission.

Before she did so, however, she took the time to yell down at the girl that clutched the grip of the hunter's spear, which was embedded into the ice of the sheer wall almost halfway up its length.

"Hold on," Lex called, "I'm coming down to get you!"

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"What does she think I'm doing, having tea and crumpets?" I growled irritably to myself, teeth chattering and fingers no longer feeling as if they were a part of my body as I clutched the spear with a death-grip, feet wedged as well as I could get them into small cracks on the cliff face. Now I knew full well that I had come nowhere near freezing to death on that night at my friend's house, no matter how uncomfortable it had been at the time. Hell, I would take seventy nights like that in a row if I could just get out of this situation!

_Actually, hot tea wouldn't be too bad right now_, I thought, looking down slightly and wincing as a small piece of ice dislodged from the cliff below, tumbling down into the darkness until finally splashing into the water that I knew would kill me within seconds, as it was in a liquid state far beyond the freezing point.

I was never, _ever_, going to the artic again.

Trying to get my mind off the cold and the waiting while Lex prepared her ice gear to save me, I began going through every song I knew, and even some I made up, looking for a tune that fit my situation. Unfortunately, I didn't have any songs in my extensive mental library that involved getting dropped into a different world and attacked by highly lethal creatures. Perhaps I would have to find one later, or make one up while I was down here. Well, scratch the making one up; my teeth were chattering too hard to keep a tune for long and I knew I'd forget it after a minute or two, anyway.

I felt a spasm in my arm, and craned my neck over so that I could see my right shoulder, where the Xeno near the ice tunnel had managed to slash me with its tail. The material of my shirt was covered in a good amount of frozen red liquid, and I made a face as I realized that the wound must have been bleeding pretty badly since I had gotten it. I just hadn't noticed before, probably because of the running for my life followed by the big fight that had resulted in me being stuck down here.

But even after all that, and even after nearly being killed, I found that I wouldn't have changed it for the world. For once in my life, I felt like I had really achieved something important, something worthwhile and that would change history in this place, this dimension. It was a heady feeling, indeed, and I felt my lips pulling slightly as I grinned, forcing myself not to lick my lips because I knew that the moisture would freeze and split my lips open. I didn't really need any more injuries to add to the ones I already had, thank you very much.

"How're you doing down here?" I looked up at the refreshingly warm voice, the relief in my face plain as I saw Lex making her way slowly but surely down with a smile on her lips. She was barely six feet above me, now, and soon I would be safe.

"M'okay," I replied, knowing that my eyes were starting to glitter with that mischievous giddiness that I always got when I had accomplished a particularly difficult task, "Just hangin' out."

"I can see," she said wryly, dropping down the last few feet to sit parallel to me. Gratefully I allowed her to help me into the extra harness she had, clipping onto the rope that I felt could be the most blessed thing in the world at that particular moment, barring my coat. As soon as I was sure I was safe, I began working on getting the spear out of the ice, wrenching it with as much strength as I could while I struggled with it.

"Just leave it," Lex said, her logic good but not good enough for me, "It'll only get in the way."

"Can't," I grunted stubbornly, setting one foot against the wall and ripping back, feeling the spear come fee in a spray of ice and snow. I grinned slightly and retracted it, watching Lex look at the weapon strangely as I gripped it tightly in my numb fingers, "Chopper gave it to me, and I have to return it in one piece, you know."

"Chopper?" she looked confused she tried to show me how to climb. I admit, I was having a bit of trouble with it, but my feet and arms were getting tired, and I felt as if I was on my last leg as it was. But I tried as well as I could, and she seemed to accept that, "You mean-?"

"The Pred," I answered, gesturing upwards with a free hand, and then wincing as I remembered that this woman knew absolutely nothing about what I was saying, "Uh… I mean, the 'hunter' I was traveling with. That's what I call him."

"And what do people call you?" she asked with slight humor in her voice, even from the grim situation. In that moment I realized that she seemed to be enjoying herself as she climbed; it was what she did, after all. I wondered if that was what I looked like when I was drawing, or writing. I wondered if that was what anyone looked like when they were doing something they loved to do.

"My name's Jessica," I said truthfully. I would have extended a hand to shake if I had had a free limb at the moment, but as I didn't, I couldn't, "Though most call me Jess or Jessie."

"Well, Jessica, my name is Lex, but I know you already know that," she said, her dark eyes turning curiously to me as she finally asked the questions I knew that she was burning to hear the answers of, "How did you get here, anyway? You weren't on the ship or at the base, and with that hair I know I'd see someone like you anywhere. And how do you know my name?"

I winced slightly, trying to come up with a good excuse or reason. Turns out, anything I thought up I knew she would recognize as a lie. Lex was a smart one; she had to be, to have survived. But if I told the truth, how would she react to hearing that her whole ordeal was just a form of entertainment to those in my dimension? What type of monster would she think I was?

"Uh…" I began with a bit of hesitation, "Really, I'm not sure if you'd wanna know. I mean, you might think you do now, but if you hear it I think you may regret it or end up not believing me…"

"After all that you're worried about me not believing you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, stopping in her tracks as she turned to stare at me, "You know, right now I'd believe almost anything."

"Good," I said, "'Cause you're gonna need to if you really want to know…"

At her nod, I proceeded to tell her all of what had happened to me in my own dimension; who and what she was, what the Preds and Aliens were. Through all of it she remained ominously silent, and we climbed further and further up the steep cliff. Finally, I felt my voice fade, for I had no more to tell, and the silence stretched between us uncomfortably.

"Well?" I asked nervously, dreading the reply that might come.

"This is a little overwhelming…" she began, teeth grit as she dug her heel into a good sized chunk of ice, propelling herself upwards another hard-earned foot, "So you say that you're arrival in this dimension changed the events slightly? How?"

"Well," I began, "For one, killing the Grid alien… uh, don't bother trying to figure that one out… but killing it allowed both Chopper and Celtic –the big arrogant Pred up there- to survive. I don't think I changed anything else in the movie, other than that and the fact that the Queen was so damn hard to kill. Oh, and Scar survived the Queen's attack, too…"

"And Scar is the hunter I was traveling with?" Lex still seemed more comfortable referring to the Yautja as 'hunters', and I didn't bother trying to correct her. She could call them whatever she wanted to, really; I know I didn't care. She was looking back at me, so I nodded and kept my breath to climb, wondering if the top was ever gonna come or if I really had died and this was my punishment for being such a dumbass.

"So he died in the movie?" Oh, I could tell that she was uncomfortable with _that_ sentence, although I couldn't tell if she was more uncomfortable about the fact that Scar had died or the fact that it had been in a movie from my dimension.

Suddenly, I remembered one verrrry important little fact about Scar that I had forgotten in the course of my adventure.

"Oh, shit," I said blankly, completely forgetting the question she had asked me.

"What?" Lex's voice was slightly panicked, and I hurriedly gave her as reassuring a smile as I could muster at the moment, seeing her face harden into a disbelieving mask that made me want to run almost more than the visage of a full-grown Xeno would have.

"Uh… nothing much," I replied evenly, trying to sound casual, "Nothing that'll kill you, anyway…"

_At least I don't think so…_

"If something happened in the movie, tell me!" Lex demanded, "I deserve to know!"

"Nothing happened in the movie," I lied, "Don't worry about it. How far are we to the top?"

She glared, but I gave her a look that said plainly that I wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. Finally, she sighed and looked ahead, eyes narrowing as she gauged the distance between the ledge and us. In a way, I wished I had that talent, but as I wasn't about to continue climbing sheer cliff faces it would be useless to waste it on me.

She seemed to have given up getting answers out of me, but somehow I knew better.

"About thirty feet, give or take," she answered finally, and I sighed as I doggedly pulled myself up with fingers that I knew I couldn't trust, the spear helping only slightly as I repeatedly jabbed it into the wall like a pick, sending small showers of ice down on me with every movement. This was ridiculous! I had only ever climbed anything even remotely like this once in my life, and that was in summer with a full harness set and mats about ten feet below me!

_So close, yet so far away._

"I am never climbing another damn cliff in my life," I muttered darkly, "Heh, yeah, it would be just my luck if I got right to the top, and then fell all the way to my impending doom at the bottom. Yup, the gods would be laughing it up then, I'm sure… right before I marched my ghostly ass up there and tore 'em a new one!"

"You know," Lex commented from above me, "You're either pretty crazy or pretty funny…"

"That has been said," I replied with a small grin.

* * *

_It has, too._ _Complete and utter truth, there._


	11. Going Home

_Haha! I feel so happy! I just suceeded in writing the end of this story, and I'm really happy with it... The last chapter is the one after this one, for those of you who don't know or aren't sure._

_Bsdisaster: Yeah, so true. Don't worry, tomarrow all is ended..._

_Ranma Hibiki: What, you think _**me** _(which I can understand)crazy? Or Lex...? O.o  
It will never end just like that! I have so much more to do!_

_Specialguy: Thanks, It's great to have a new reader around! I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_DarkXeno: Oooh, I love that song (Numb... I don't know the other one)! When will I break the news? Well...  
You're making an RPG website? Great! Unfortunately, I was never good with RPG's, and I don't have any suggestions that I can give you. Sorry about that. I do hope you and your sister can make it a great site, though. You might even pull me into it XD_

_Without futher interruptions... (flourishing bow)_

* * *

"LAND!" I cried, pulling myself up over the edge and burying my already frozen fingers into the frozen turf below me, "LAND! Well… ice, but who cares!"

I heard a muffled sound from beside me, and turned my head to see Lex trying to smother a laugh, her hand covering her mouth and her dark eyes squinted slightly with the effort. I smirked cheekily and winked; that was the reaction I had been aiming to get from the other woman. The situation had been too bleak lately; we needed some humor, and people _did_ tell me I was funny.

A curious growl made us both turn our attention to the three Yautja that had apparently been waiting nearby. As I watched, Scar approached Lex, rumbling slightly as he seemed to be ascertaining that she was still all right after her rescue mission. I smiled slightly, but not enough that anyone could see; those two were hitting it off rather well, considering, and now I could see why so many of the writers on the Internet had favored Scar/Lex pairings. Lex flinched only slightly as the Yautja rose his clawed hand to her cheek, brushing the scar slightly before making a sound of approval and turning back to the others.

I was a little surprised to see that there were still only the three original Predators; where had the elders and others gone that had been at the end of the movie? I already knew that we had far surpassed the time when they were supposed to appear. Before I could think on this too long, however, the pain in my back and legs suddenly decided that it was high time I was reminded of its existence, and my knees started the buckle with a frightening lurch as a new flare of intense pain shot through my body, making me take a sharp intake of breath before the spear drove into the ice automatically, steadying me before I fell.

"Are you alright?" Lex's voice was worried, but I waved her off before she came forward to try and help.

"I'm fine," I said stubbornly, "Well, as fine as I'm ever gonna be. I can take it."

"You're leaning on that spear pretty heavily," she countered, her skeptical eyes resting on my shaking grip. I clenched my teeth and suddenly flashed her a grin as I remembered something.

"Thanks for reminding me," I said, turning back to look at the Yautja that were currently looking at a hologram on their arm computers. Catching just a slight glimpse of the miniature image that was displayed, my eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar shape. There was no real point in trying to distinguish what it was, though, because in all my knowledge of Yautja and Xeno's I had no previous encounter with anything that looked so strange.

Well, what I didn't know didn't matter.

My gaze lifted from the holographic image without sparing any more thought, searching out the familiar mask of the Yautja that I had somehow ended up with through all of my considerably adventurous adventure. Again, I felt slightly amused upon seeing that rock star visage, the eye sensors that looked as if some middle school child had tried to put on sunglasses to make themselves look 'cool'. But this time the amusement was tinged with a large amount of respect and gratitude, and also some worry, for as I studied the creature I saw that the slash across his midsection still remained untreated, and a significant amount of glowing blood was running in small rivulets across his armor and legs.

After a few moments he seemed to sense that I was looking at him, and his head snapped up, those strange eye sensors faced directly at me. With a growl to the others he broke off from the group, walking in easy strides towards where I was standing. My brow furrowed as I watched the ease in which he walked, because I knew such a wound as the one he had must be very painful; I had barely gotten hit by the Queen and I was hardly able to stand, after all. He had taken the full force of her tail, on an old injury to boot, and he was acting as if nothing had happened.

I wondered briefly if any of it was just a facade to avoid showing weakness.

He stopped in front of me, and I looked up with a slight blank look, suddenly realizing that I didn't know what to say. After a few long, tense seconds, I gave myself a mental slap in the face and ripped the spear from the ground, willing myself to stay standing as I retracted it with a sharp 'snick' and held it out to the Yautja, head bowed slightly to show my respect. There was absolute silence, and I began to wonder if I was acting like a major idiot as I stared at the ground before the soft trill of laughter reached my ears. I winced as I felt a bit of red begin to reach my face, wondering what I had done to amuse him so.

Suddenly, I felt the unexpected brush of his amazingly warm hand on my fingers, and I very nearly dropped the spear and pulled back from the shock of the contact. As it was, I was certain that he could feel my limb shudder as I tried to keep from moving. With a mild rumble, he gently pushed the weapon back towards me, refusing to take it. My head rose in amazement as I slowly realized that he didn't want the spear back; that he was, in effect, giving me his weapon.

My mouth opened but no words emerged as I brought my hand back, looking at the ornate spear with a mix of amazement and confusion. Me? Giving _me_ such a weapon? I mean, I could understand letting me use it for survival, but actually letting a human keep such a thing?

"Why?" I finally choked out, the only thing I could think of to say at the moment.

His head tilted, and he gestured back towards the ledge. My gaze fell over that sheer drop for a split second before I shuddered and averted my eyes. Heights… ugh.

"Awesome kill," again, my own voice came back to me in the slightly warped manner of the recording device playback. My brows furrowed for a moment in confusion as I tried to gather the meaning of the words and gesture. What did he mean by that? I hadn't killed the Queen!

Had I? No, I hadn't killed it; I had merely lured it off the cliff. In all respects I should have been dead alongside the bitch.

"It's not my kill," I said softly, shaking my head, "It's all of ours. You and your friends, Lex's and mine. We all worked together to bring it down."

I still wasn't sure if he could really understand what I said, but he made a sound that seemed slightly surprised, and I had to smile a bit. Abruptly, a chill wind came up out of nowhere, and I shivered violently, almost stumbling as I brought my frozen arms up to wrap around my torso in an effort to keep warm, arranging the spear so that it didn't touch my skin with its cold metal. My teeth began chattering uncontrollably as the wind kept up, and I cursed the loss of my meager coat. It might not of done much to protect from artic temperatures, but it would have helped. In this condition, I knew I would be pressed just to keep alive for more than an hour out here.

Chopper growled lightly, and I looked up into his mask, my purple-barred hair flying into my face from the wind and obscuring my vision in a bizarre mix of red and fuchsia.

And that's when the ship behind them decided to uncloak.

"Holy freaking mother of shit," I said, my gaze instantly pulled past the figure before me and to the gigantic, dark vessel that I had always dreamed of seeing. The many lights illuminating the hundreds of different rooms inside glittered like stars against the dark sky, and the heat from the engines as the ship settled down in the snow sent a welcome relief from the bitter cold. Hell, if I wasn't already so unsteady, I would have run for it and nested inside the warmest engine they had, screaming about my rights to warmth all the way.

Almost as soon as the gigantic craft had settled down, a considerably large square off the side of the ship began to descend, first only admitting a crack of light, but then slowly the distance began to widen and a small trickle of opaque fog drifted out, covering the ground right in front of the door. It was almost as if the essence of Halloween had come upon the scene… or a fog-machine.

_Boy, these people sure know how to make a grand entrance_, I mused dryly as I watched the Yautja elder uncloak first, and then all of the others in a rippling wave behind him. Chopper grunted, looking back at me slightly before moving off to stand with the other three Warriors, who had already came to bow before the elder. I moved to stand beside a thoroughly confused Lex, my own eyes wide as saucers.

"Hmm… think they'd be willing to offer us a ride home?" I asked jokingly, feeling worlds better now that some of the heat from the still warm engines was beginning to soak into my skin. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lex look at me with one raised eyebrow, and I shrugged, ignoring the slight pain the movement caused me, "What? Do you really want to walk all the way back to the boat?"

"We have a vehicle right over there, you know," she answered, gesturing to the small, compact looking machine that sat a few dozen yards away.

"Oh, just smash all my dreams," I said somewhat sarcastically, looking at the transport in a confused manner, "And how in all hell did that dinky little shit of a car survive the explosion?"

She snorted, and I ignored the sound, looking again towards the gathering of Yautja. The elder seemed to be accepting them all as warriors with a small, on the spot ceremony. I felt a bit privileged to be watching this event, considering that I had never really heard of such a thing before. It seemed almost peaceful now, when I knew that pretty much everything was over. In a way, I felt regret that it hadn't lasted longer. I mean, just when I was starting to get into the whole idea of adventure…

And suddenly I was reminded again of how the adventure wasn't over yet as a pained roar echoed throughout the barren world of ice and snow, making both Lex and I immediately stand on edge and at the ready. With dismay I saw what I had hoped might have been changed by my arrival, and I heard Lex cry out in horror as Scar fell to the ground, clutching at his chest with spurting rivulets of green blood coming from between his clawed fingers. Almost immediately he was dragged away and out of sight by several other Yautja into the bowels of the ship, and I saw both Chopper and Celtic standing back from where they had leapt, looking almost dumbfounded by the sudden event that involved their hunting companion.

The elder predator made several harsh noises, and the two new warriors quickly regained their places, the ritual finishing quickly. Immediately afterwards, that unmasked, battle worn face turned slowly towards me, and I saw those beady eyes studying my face, lingering over the scar on my right cheek and the spear in my grasp. I looked back with a hard gaze, unwilling to back away from even such a figure as this after all I had gone through. After a few moments that seemed like forever, his eyes turned to a significantly rattled Lex, and I nearly breathed a sigh of relief.

Nearly.

I knew very well that nothing was over yet. Now that the ship had stopped and powered down, I felt the renewed chill of the artic air seeping into my limbs, and already I was trembling with the effort to remain standing. I silently began willing myself to stay conscious, to stay awake and to keep the pervading blackness out of my vision for just a few more hours or even minutes.

_Goddamn artic air,_ I thought, _fucking snow… I hate snow and ice and anything cold. Stay awake Jess; stay awake… Sick is not a good thing; don't get sick, either. Cold… Focus on cold, no… focus on Yautja. Yeah, you need to keep a sharp eye on the Yautja… Don't throw up. Better yet, don't throw up on the Yautja._

I barely noticed when the elder Yautja strode forward, his long cape ruffling in the bitter wind as he approached and stood before a thoroughly confused Lex. I finally roused myself from my half-aware thoughts enough to focus on the scene, noticing with approval that the woman next to me showed no fear in the face of the large, intimidating Yautja warrior that was growling almost inaudibly, even though I knew she must have been strained to the limit with both worry and confusion. The elder creature clicked curiously, his carved tusks twitching slightly as he regarded her from this closer angle, and then he unclipped something from his belt, though the elaborate cape obscured any view of the object until he brought it out.

The spear he held in his claws was one of almost unparalleled craftsmanship, and I felt my jaw begin to drop before firmly locking the muscles and keeping my eyes as disinterested as possible. Lex looked at it blankly, eyes wide and disbelieving, and there was a long, long moment when I felt that nobody was ever going to move, that this tense moment was going to go on forever or be shattered by the woman's hesitance to take the weapon. Finally, though, Lex brought her hand up and grasped the spear, her head tilting slightly in a slow nod as the elder growled approvingly, releasing his hold on the weapon and turning to me with a slight flourish of his cape.

I looked up into his small, intelligent eyes, and those carved mandibles twitched in what I guessed to be slight amusement at my brash façade before he had another compact spear held out to me, this one of exactly the same craftsmanship as Lex's. I stared at it for a moment, caught off guard. Finally, my mind straightened out enough for me to form words.

"No thanks," I said quietly, bringing up the considerably less ornate spear that Chopper had given me and shaking my head in refusal, "I already have one, and it's all I need."

In the back of my mind I noted that I had never seen a Predator look taken aback before as the elder regarded me with interest, head tilted once more as he slowly withdrew his offering, clipping it back onto the hidden holder under his cape. A barely discernable trill could be heard for the gigantic alien as he nodded respectfully and turned, his cape again flaring out behind him –was it just me, or was this guy _way_ too dramatic?- as he walked back to the other warriors standing beside the ship.

"Now it's over," I whispered, taking my eyes of the scene and looking towards the vehicle that would get me to the icebreaker and onto life in this strange dimension.

"Jess, what is that?" asked Lex curiously, touching my shoulder. I turned my head, and my eyes widened in disbelief as I saw the same glowing green and purple sphere that had brought me into this dimension. I smiled widely, feeling instantly reenergized as the prospect of home gleamed true. It looks like it truly _was_ over, now!

"That's my ticket outta here!" I said excitedly, almost leaping towards it before remembering my manners. With a wide grin, I turned to the other woman, extending my scarred hand to hers. She took it instantly, and we shook hands respectfully, both smiling at the other, "It's been fun, Lex, but now's my time to leave. I hope you make it off this overgrown iceberg okay."

"With seven seasons on the ice, I should," she replied warmly, nodding.

I walked towards the light, but suddenly stopped and turned to face her once more as I remembered yet another small detail, "Oh, and if you can, find my coat out here. It's very special to me, and you'll find some Xeno claws in it. I'd like you to have 'em."

She nodded, and I smiled as I reached out to the sphere, everything else forgotten as the bright promise of my own home flared with an intensity even greater than the pain of movement.

_I'm going home…

* * *

_

ET phone home...  
Do the Zombie walk!  
(Please ignore the madness...)


	12. Welcome to Your Future

_Last Chapter!  
Damn... but there 'could' be a sequel someday..._

_OtakusVengeance: Hehe, I always thought the elder in the movie was far too dramatic for his own good...  
Hell, that **is** something to wonder, though! Lesse... girl is running towards light... she's gone? WTF!  
Hehehehehehehehehe_

_Ranma Hibiki: Well, what else am I supposed to be thinking about? XD I think about some of the strangest stuff in the most unsuitable places, and that is by far one of the tamer ones.  
Goldfish crackers would be best XD  
You know, I never believed the gods would be so kind, either...  
Trill as in a sound that is like a bird laughing... kinda hard to imagine XD  
Lost respect for elders? (gasps in horror)  
Rambling is gooooooooood_

_Bsdisaster: Thanks, but it's not quite over yet!_

_RaptorChick: Yes, I **will** join your club! (slams hand down on table) Owwww  
Ah, what my parents would say... First off, I bet it would be: "What the HELL!"  
Updated now XD_

_DarkXeno: Wow, I made you speechless! (glomps)_

_This is quite possibly the longest chapter I have made for this Fic._

* * *

Home… It had seemed so far away since I had come here, since I had had this adventure. I had begun to think that I would never go back, that I would be stuck here forever in the dimension of Aliens and Predators. 

Not like that was a bad thing, really. I had found that I liked it here, barring the cold.

But I couldn't help wanting to go back. It had been my entire life, after all, and the comforts of that place were too strong to just give up, even in the face of such escapades as no one had ever before seen. It was warmer than here, it had people I knew, it had friends, however few of them, and it had my family. I couldn't go back on family, not ever. My kin needed to know what had happened.

If only there was some way to let them know without going back… But that would never happen, so why was I even thinking it? It was a miracle in itself that I even had a chance to return from this place, or that I had even lived through the events… asking for more was altogether too much.

All these thoughts ran through my head as I brought my trembling, cold-weakened fingers up to the orb, my golden eyes reflecting the mesmerizing and almost taunting light that it gave off that reminded me of the quiet and relaxing nature of a warm summer day. I hesitated just before touching it, savoring the moment as long as I could before the falling that I was sure would come. Finally, my fingers stretched out, brushing…

Nothing.

The orb winked out with no warning, causing an abrupt darkness to descend upon the area I was standing in. I was left frozen in the midst of my action, fingers still trembling exactly where the light had been seconds before. My mouth cracked open as I felt the scathing loss bite at me, causing any sense of humor that might have been building at the moment to flat-line instantly.

"What the fucking hell!" I demanded, arm snapping back to my side as I looked wildly around me, seeing Lex still standing where she had been, brows furrowed as she attempted to understand what had just happened. I bristled and stared again at the spot where the light had been, "No! Goddamn it, no! This fucking sucks!"

"What happened?" Lex asked softly, "Does this mean you can't go back to your own world?"

I sucked in a sharp breath, the cold burning down my throat as I growled darkly. I turned and walked, stiff-legged even though the pain hit me hard, in no particular direction, as lost as I could possibly be. Where would I go now? What would I do?

"Probably," I whispered finally, "Damn it all to hell."

"Jess, it'll be okay," Lex said reassuringly, "I mean, this dimension can't be that bad, can it?"

"I love it, and that's the problem," I whispered, looking over towards the ship and the Yautja that were going through the large entrance. I smiled slightly as I saw one look back, the two skulls on sticks that amused me so much swishing in the air. A sudden thought occurred to me, making me see things in a new light, "I love it so much here… I think that's why the orb disappeared. It wasn't a mistake to bring me here…"

"What are you saying?" Lex's voice was toned in a type of shocked curiosity. It was an interesting thing to hear.

"How could I go back to _that_ when everything I've ever dreamed of is right here in front of me?" I replied, swinging my arm out to gesture at the ship, the land around, and the spears that we both held. I sighed heavily, looking down at my own spear and letting a small quirk of a grin pull at my lips, giving me that slightly sarcastic look I knew I used so much, "I was never meant for my world."

Lex sighed, and she stepped forward just as the door to the gigantic ship before us closed with a hissing sound. I felt her hand on my shoulder, and I held back a snarl as I turned angrily, stalking to the vehicle that sat, it's lights still on (How did the lights stay on for all that time? The damn thing must be almost out of power!) and a path before it clear as day, heading off into the distance and the ship I knew would take me to reality in this world. How I hoped that it wasn't as boring as that of mine... I bared my teeth in disgust with myself as I stumbled slightly and had to struggle to regain my balance, but I refused to accept any help as I made my way to the machine.

Finally, I staggered up against it, my gut roiling as I attempted to not throw up. Damn, what was making me so sick all of a sudden? I felt dizzy, and I brought one hand up to my head, massaging my temple as I became dimly aware of Lex asking me something. I looked at her blankly, seeing her worried face right in front of mine, but suddenly looked past her, eyes widening as I shoved the woman out of the way –well, shoved in a slight sense of the word; mostly I just lurched at her and she moved- and brought my spear up to swing at the extremely fast-moving little creature that had leapt at us, all four mandibles flared as it screeched.

The tip of my compacted spear hit it broadside, and it was knocked out of the way as I staggered for balance, head swimming as I tried to see where it had gone. Lex… where was she? I could hear screeching, and a person yelling my name, but I couldn't seem to find it.

_God, you idiot, get it together, already!_ I screamed at myself, forcing my eyes to focus as I whipped around and saw that the hybrid chestburster had latched onto Lex's arm. She was trying to rip it off, but the little creature seemed to have her in a bit of a predicament, as she couldn't remove it without taking most of her skin with it. Blood was starting to well up as the Xeno bit deeper, plunging all of its small teeth into her skin as she screamed in pain and anger.

_Shit shit shit shit shit!_

"Stun it!" I cried, stumbling over to the woman and bringing my spear up to hit at the creature's skull with the shaft, repeatedly battering it on the head. It squeaked; a sound muffled by the flesh that it had in its clutches, and I hit it again, pulling it by the tail as I did so. It came free with a sudden screech, and I fell backwards, hitting the snow hard as the creature that I had a hold of curled up like lightning and tried to strike at me.

Suddenly, it was knocked away by Lex's new spear, and I dimly saw it land on the ground and slither out of the way, climbing into the open door of the vehicle with a quick movement and a vengeful hiss. The woman followed it, and soon had it cornered on the dashboard. She plunged the sharp end of the spear into its flesh, snarling in anger as the pitiful Xeno screeched for the last time, its green, acid blood spurting onto the metal and sizzling as it ate through it.

_Now we don't have a way to get back_, I thought brokenly as the lights still shining from the vehicle flickered and fizzled out, trying to gather what scattered remnants of coherency I had left as darkness engulfed the area. I groaned as I struggled to a standing position, legs wobbling as I leaned against the cold metal. What in all hell was making me so tired? I needed to be aware, now more than ever. In my mind I began to laugh, _Purple gummy candeh rules all… beware the gummies…_

_Where in fucking hell did _**that**_ come from?_

"It's dead," I dimly heard Lex say, "Jess? Jess, are you alright? Answer me, please!"

I snorted in abruptly unfunny laughter as my dizziness increased tenfold in an instant, a sight like black fuzz beginning to leak in through the edges of my vision until I could see nothing but the snow and darkness right in front of me. I blinked, and nothing changed. It was almost like being blind.

"Oh, shit," I muttered, trying to step forward but falling as my leg collapsed. It was funny how clear my mind was absorbing facts in this moment, noting everything that was happening without any errors, even though I never felt myself hit the ice below me. That was when the blackness closed in completely, and suddenly I found that there was nothing in my world, nothing at all to be aware of.

Not even me.

* * *

_What's happening? Where am I?_

I pulled myself back to slight awareness slowly, conscious only that an amount of time had passed but not knowing how much, and immediately I tried opening my eyes. With surprise I found that they seemed to weigh thousands of pounds each, and I couldn't even get them to crack open. I could barely feel anything around me, but I noticed still that it was cold, and that my back and legs still hurt with that flaring pain that was thankfully dulled as I lay motionless wherever I was.

Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted into the air, and I tried to yell out, even though I knew that I couldn't get my muscles to obey me. All that I managed was to quicken my breathing slightly, and that didn't help. I was still moving through the air, supported by who knows what.

_Is anybody there?_ I cried mentally, desperate to have someone familiar there to comfort me, something that I knew, _Lex? Are you there? Mom? Is anyone there? Chopper, even? Someone please tell me what happened!_

_I'm afraid…_

I felt something brush my arm, pulling up the long sleeves of my crimped shirt, and I felt a shiver run through me as my numb mind registered the bitter cold of the air. I was still outside… I think. There was a brief flare of intense pain as what I hoped was a needle entered my skin.

_Gods, what's happening? What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I move?_

I couldn't hear anything, only feel. There was nothing but me in my own little world, and a dim sense of something happening on the outside world. After a few moments, I sensed myself beginning to fall back into the darkness that I had just managed to crawl out of, and I screamed desperately in my mind as slowly the sensation of feeling the outside world faded.

_NO! No, tell me what's wrong! Let me wake up, I don't wanna go back!_

_I'm not dead, am I?_

More fear pushed in on me, suffocating me and choking me as I was dragged forcefully into oblivion.

_Please, no…

* * *

_

_Third Person POV:_

Lex stood back a ways as the Yautja injected Jessica with some sort of sedative, although the needle they used looked far too large to be just a sedative… perhaps the hunters did everything like that? The breathing of the girl had begun to quicken and she had started to twitch as she tried to rouse from her 'sleep', but now Lex saw that she had fallen back into unconsciousness as the effects of the drug coursed through her. It was still a mystery as to whether that was a good thing or not, considering that the hunters had laid her on some sort of stretcher and were carrying the girl towards the waiting ship now that she was calm.

"Where are you taking her?" Lex demanded harshly, walking forward with her mind clouded by anger as she faced the caped leader, who merely regarded her with puzzlement. She saw the hunters carrying the girl pause for only a moment before a low growl from the tall creature before her moved them on their way, but one stayed behind, clicking in what Lex perceived to be their language as he faced the caped one and herself. Lex suddenly noted with surprise that he was the one Jess had called 'Chopper', and the one that had injected the sedative and was now helping to carry the stretcher was none other than the one she had deemed 'Celtic'. Why were _they_ here? "Answer me!"

Chopper came forward, nodding respectfully to Lex before making a wide, arcing gesture that seemed to show the ship flying into the sky. Lex got the meaning instantly.

"What? You're taking her with you?" she gasped, "Into space?"

Both hunters nodded slowly, and then the taller one did a surprising thing. He gestured to Lex, and then stepped back, sweeping his arm back towards the ship and bowing his head slightly. This Lex took a long, long moment to grasp, but when she did, she was more shocked than ever, and suddenly felt that Jessica hadn't had a bad idea in passing out.

"You're offering _me_ a chance to go?"

Her first thought was instantly to refuse, but before she could act upon it she thought of Jessica, and how the girl might feel alone on a huge ship, surrounded by a species that wasn't her own and with no one to talk to. She knew that it would be so difficult for her; especially since she had just gone through so much disappointment, so much fear. Lex had gone through some semblance of the same, and she had lost many friends and future friends on that assignment under the ice. She didn't want to cause the same for the girl.

But she didn't want to leave her life!

Did she?

Really, what life did she have _left_ now? What did she have to look forward to? Did she seriously expect to just think up a lie and be immediately accepted back into society, going back to her old routine as if nothing had happened? No, it couldn't ever be that way; she would always think back on this day, whether it be in nightmares or contemplation. And she knew she would always wonder what it would have been like if she had accepted the offer of a new life in the stars.

She was suddenly reminded of the land around her, and what she had said so long ago about Antarctica. It was the last truly wild place left on Earth, the last no man's land. It had always been the reason she had felt so free here, as if she belonged.

But space was the ultimate no man's land.

Lex looked up towards the patient faces of the two Yautja, her slow nod becoming apparent. They both clicked and rumbled approvingly, and then turned, making their way to the ship that was beginning to power up, the heat from the engines rippling across the snow and melting the ice nearby. The woman followed them apprehensively, turning her eyes back to catch a glimpse the giant crater in the earth and the remains of the whaling station, what she was sure would be the last visages of human civilization she would see for many years to come. In a way, it seemed like the second step in the face of a whole new existence.

Lex knew that she could relate to what Jessica felt, now.

But first…

"Wait for a second," Lex called, making the two hunters turn as she gestured back towards the ice, "I have to get something, first!"

* * *

"Jessica… Jess, can you wake up?" 

My mind flickered to awareness tiredly, and I snorted through my nose, still completely fuzzed. My eyes were too heavy for me to want to lift, and my mouth felt dry… I must've had it open all night again. I closed it with a mumble and worked on getting the softness back into my dry tongue before I answered.

"Mmmm…" I groaned, "Don' wanna go school yet… call in a sick day or sumthin…"

"Well, at least I know you're alright…"

Why would whoever was waking me care about me being alright? Had something happened to me? … Wait a second! This wasn't my bed… nor was it my room! The sheets over me felt more like silk or some other material than my heavy, warm comforters, and I wasn't laying like I normally would… in fact, I was facing the ceiling, and with a frantic cough to clear my throat out I turned. I had always hated facing towards the ceiling.

But if I wasn't home, where was I? I mean; I felt like I had been dreaming for so long, and so vividly…

_Could my dream have been real?_

Suddenly, everything came back to me in an overwhelming rush, and I gasped in mid-cough as I was bombarded by remembered images, scenes that I knew had happened but still seemed a bit like a dream at the moment. Finally, I came back to myself and my right eye cracked open just a bit, squinting at the dim light that was admitted. I felt a worried hand shaking my shoulder roughly.

"Jessica, are you alright? Please answer me!"

"I'm okay, Lex," I answered quickly, my hand waving a bit to dislodge hers as I rolled over, trying to assure the woman that I was indeed okay, "I'm just a little woozy… uh…" my other eye cracked open and I saw with dim surprise that the lights above were a soft, soothing orange, and the walls around were dark and so detailed with bas-relief's that I took a moment just to stare in wonder at them. Then, my mind started up again, and I turned to Lex with a very confused look, brows furrowed and eyes trying to figure out whether they should be widening or narrowing, "Okay, where are we?"

Her answer was cut off by a frighteningly familiar growl, and I looked over to the doorway that hadn't been there before, my eyes rising up disbelievingly to stare into the unmasked face of a Yautja. He wore no armor, and there was an absence of that unique visor, but somehow I knew exactly who this creature was. I smiled widely.

"Oh, so _that's_ where I am," I said, grunting slightly as I sat up and flicked my fingers in my own type of half-wave towards the Yautja, "Hey, Chopper, good to see ya again."

Lex smothered a small smile with her hand, and I rose and eyebrow towards her, distantly noting the second figure that walked into the room, and then the third. With a jolt I realized I recognized these imposing figures as Scar and Celtic. Celtic still seemed as gruff and reluctant as ever, glaring down at Lex and me with his piercing eyes before he growled and feigned disinterest. Scar was alive –thank the gods for that!-, though I could see the unmistakable horrible scar on his midsection that seemed pretty recent, as it was still held together with stitches and that blue gel that I knew hurt so much. It reminded me of my own wounds, but as I thought of them I was amazed to find that my back and legs didn't hurt anymore, nor did my arms.

Plus, we were _all_ here now, the whole group. Somehow, someway, we had all bonded on our death-defying trip in the ice, and the best part was, the adventure had only begun.

Man, I was glad that that orb hadn't taken me back.

Scar handed Lex a bundle of brown, and I felt disbelief rise in me once more as she handed over the object to me. It was my coat! I hugged it close to me with an abrupt movement, reveling in the soft though slightly burnt synthetic leather and giving all of them a grateful grin as I reached into the pocket and took out the three Xeno digits, running my fingers over their smooth surface. Celtic growled gruffly, handing over a length of wire, and I immediately began working on stringing the trophies onto it, all the while grinning like an idiot as I contemplated what would come now.

_Welcome to your future, Jessica._

* * *

_WHOOHOO!  
Man, that was great! I have to thank everybody who reviewed, read, or had been following this fic's progress. You're imput has really helped, and I have really been able to keep in touch with the real me and discover more about myself during the course of writing this. It actually made me feel better about myself, too, and I have to thank you guys again for supporting this._

_You guys are great (hugs all)_

_In honor of you all and this Fic, here's a song I found that reflects it pretty well... sorta. I just like it XD_

_Away from the Sun  
3 Doors Down_

It's down to this  
I've got to make this life make sense  
Can anyone do what I've done  
I missed life  
I missed the colours of the world  
Can anyone go where I am

'Cause now again I've found myself  
So far down, away from the sun  
That shines into the darkest place  
I'm so far down, away from the sun again  
Away from the sun again

I'm over this  
I'm tired of living in the dark  
Can anyone see me down here  
The feeling's gone  
There's nothing left to lift me up  
Back into the world I've known

'Cause now again I've found myself  
So far down, away from the sun  
That shines into the darkest place  
I'm so far down, away from the sun  
That shines the life away from me  
To find my way back into the arms  
That care about the ones like me  
I'm so far down, away from the sun again

It's down to this  
I've got to make this life make sense  
And now I can't do what I've done

And now again I've found myself  
So far down, away from the sun  
That shines the life away from me

'Cause now again I've found myself  
So far down, away from the sun  
That shines into the darkest place  
I'm so far down, away from the sun  
That shines the life away from me  
To find my way back into the arms  
That care about the ones like me  
I'm so far down, away from the sun again


End file.
